Joseph Raphael DeLamar

Background

Joseph Raphael De Lamar was born on September 2, 1843 in Amsterdam, Holland. He was the son of Maximilian and Johanna (Teune) De Lamar.

Education

DeLamar was privately educated.

Career

While he was still young he went to sea. Once when he was on a voyage, the captain of the ship died, and he—though only twenty-three years old—was put into control. Soon after this he came to America and settled at Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, as a ship-contractor.

Perhaps his most notable achievement in this connection occurred in 1872 when he raised the submerged transatlantic liner, Charlotte.

The excitement over gold discoveries in Colorado tempted him West in the late seventies. He secured certain tracts of land near Leadville, and then returned to Chicago where he studied chemistry and metallurgy. After about two years he sold his mining property to a London organization for two million dollars.

In 1884 he was a member of the territorial Senate of Idaho, but he soon abandoned politics, and though his mining interests in the West were in a sense personally maintained till 1891, he spent most of his time after 1888 in New York City.

He was back in New York from Paris by 1902. He became a director in many rich corporations, and for a long time he was vice-president of the International Nickel Company. In his business relationships he was extremely taciturn and aloof, but he belonged to numerous clubs and he entertained lavishly at his expensive residences in the city and at Glen Cove, Long Island.

He was an accomplished organist.

When he died, half of his estate of twenty million dollars was left to his daughter, Alice Antoinette, and the other half was divided between the medical schools of Columbia, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Achievements

• DeLamar was a director in many rich corporations, and for a long time he was vice-president of the International Nickel Company. He raised the submerged transatlantic liner, Charlotte.

Connections

DeLamar married Nellie Sands, the daughter of a New York druggist, and the two went to live in Paris. They were later divorced.

Father:

Maximilian De Lamar

Mother:

Johanna (Teune) De Lamar

Wife:

Nellie Sands

Daughter:

Alice Antoinette

References

• Bonanzas & Borrascas: Copper Kings and Stock Frenzies, 1885–1918 (Western Lands and Waters Series)