Background
Haggin was born in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky, a descendant of one of the state"s pioneer families who had settled there in 1775 and a descendant of Ibrahim Ben Ali, who was an early American settler of Turkish origin.
Haggin was born in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky, a descendant of one of the state"s pioneer families who had settled there in 1775 and a descendant of Ibrahim Ben Ali, who was an early American settler of Turkish origin.
He graduated from Centre College at Danville, Kentucky then entered the practice of law.
On December 28, 1846, James Ben Ali Haggin married Eliza Jane Sanders of Natchez, Mississippi with whom he had five children. They moved to San Francisco in 1853. He built a large and impressive Nob Hill mansion on the east side of Taylor Street between Clay and Washington streets, which stood until the earthquake and fire of 1906.
Haggin and Tevis acquired the Rancho Delegate Paso land grant near Sacramento.
Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Company 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.
James Bachelor of Arts Haggin owned the Rancho Delegate Paso horse farm near Sacramento, California which he stopped using as a horse breeding farm in 1905 and concentrated his breeding efforts at Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Haggin acquired Elmendorf in 1897 and until his death in 1914, he undertook to develop it into the largest horse breeding operation in the United States of its era.
He is the namesake of the Ben Ali Stakes.
Jalapa Railroad & Power Company (JRR&Personal Computer)
See: William K. Boone.