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Irving T. Bush

 
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Irving T. Bush

Irving T. Bush, founder of Bush Terminal, Bush Tower, and Bush House
Born July 12, 1869(1869-07-12)
Ridgeway, Lenawee County, Michigan, U.S.
Died October 21, 1948 (aged 79)
New York City, New York
Occupation Business
Spouse(s) Belle Barlow
Maud Howard Beard
Marian Spore Bush
Parents Rufus T. Bush
Sarah M. (Hall) Bush

Irving T. Bush (July 12, 1869 - Oct. 21, 1948) was an American businessman. His father was the wealthy industrialist, oil refinery owner, and yachtsman Rufus T. Bush.

As founder of the Bush Terminal Company, Irving T. Bush was responsible for the construction of the massive Bush Terminal transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York City which employed more than 25,000 people within its boundaries. Irving T. Bush also commissioned Manhattan's landmark Bush Tower skyscraper on 42nd Street next to Times Square and funded the construction of Bush House in London.

A prolific author, his life and works attracted attention from the national press, influential figures, and major publishers and journalists, while the structures he built still serve today.

Contents

Early life

Irving T. Bush's family name comes from Jan Bosch, a native of the Netherlands, who immigrated to New Amsterdam, now New York, in 1662.[1] He has no known connection or relation to the Bush political family.[2]

Born in Ridgeway, Lenawee County, Michigan, a very small town southwest of Detroit, Irving moved with his family at a young age to Brooklyn, New York, at the time an independent city. When young Irving T. was in his teens, his father sold his Brooklyn waterfront oil refinery to Standard Oil and retired.[3]. Irving T. was educated at the private Hill School, a British-style boarding school outside Philadelphia, and joined his father's firm at age 19.[4]

The two-masted schooner yacht Coronet, a 136-foot (41.4 meter) vessel that Rufus had built during the mid-1880s, influenced Irving's life, for the ocean race between the Coronet and the yacht Dauntless in March 1887 made Rufus T. Bush and the victorious Coronet famous--the New York Times devoted its entire first page for March 28, 1887 to the story.[5] Rufus and Irving T. Bush then circumnavigated the globe on the Coronet in 1888. Though they traveled overland and did not join the yacht until it arrived in San Diego in 1889, the Coronet was the first registered yacht to cross Cape Horn from East to West.[6] After crossing the Pacific Ocean, the Coronet stopped in China, Calcutta, Malta (and elsewhere), giving Irving T. a view of the world that few had at the time. [7][8]

The Coronet was sold before Rufus's death in 1890[5], when Rufus accidentally drank a fatal dose of aconite. Rufus T. Bush left an estate estimated at $2,000,000 to his wife and two sons.[9] The family heirs quickly incorporated under the name The Bush Co.[3]

At only 21, Irving T. Bush, a clerk for Standard Oil, could have lived off his inherited wealth and retired from the business life.[10]

Edison, motion pictures, and Irving T. Bush

Instead of staying wealthy and anonymous, Irving T. continued working during the 1890s. He first made a major contribution to the fledgling film industry.

Irving T. Bush was chair of the Continental Commerce Co., which had exclusive rights to market Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope overseas. The kinetoscope was the earliest motion picture viewer. Unlike later movie projectors, kinetoscopes could show a moving image to only one person at a time. The Continental Commerce Co. opened the first licensed European kinetoscope parlor in London in 1894.[11]

Later on, Thomas Edison maintained that he not only admired Irving T. Bush, but I.T. Bush was a great asset to the United States. Irving T. Bush used Edison's words in his 1928 autobiography.[12] In turn, his publishers at Doubleday used Edison's statement to market the book.[13]

Bush Terminal

Main article: Bush Terminal

But Irving T. Bush's connection with Edison's motion pictures was brief. Soon after, during the mid-1890s, Irving T. Bush started the planning and construction of Bush Terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront site where his father's former oil refinery had been located.[14]

To induce railroads to use his car floats, (i.e. using the barges that transported railroad cars across New York Harbor), Irving had to resort to ordering dozens of carloads of hay from Michigan himself. To show shippers that using the wharves and warehouses at the new terminal could be profitable, Irving T. Bush entered the banana business.[12]

Thus, within two decades, the complex originally derided as "Bush's Folly"[4] became a great success. Though the complex was seized for government use during the First World War by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, Irving T. Bush complied with government demands. He even helped to design the Brooklyn Army Terminal for General Goethals in 1918. [4][15]

Irving T. Bush was named Chief Executive of the War Board of the Port of New York during the First World War, an early version of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[4][16]

During this period before and during the First World War, Irving T. Bush planned and had built Bush Tower, a landmark 30-story Neo-Gothic skyscraper on 42nd Street in Manhattan, just east of Times Square.[17][18] The tower was conceived as display space for the manufacturers and shippers of Bush Terminal and New York.

An even more ambitious venture was Irving T. Bush's attempt to meld commercial displays and social space in London, England at Bush House, an elaborate and large office building built in three phases during the 1920s, but the concept was not fully carried through at that project.[19] Bush House is known around the globe today as the headquarters of the British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) World Service, which currently broadcasts in 32 languages to all parts of the world.

Irving T. Bush also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York from 1922 to 1924.

References in popular culture

The success of Bush Terminal and its seizure for government use during World War I kept it in the news, while building projects at Bush Tower and Bush House did not go un-noticed.

Forbes, in its first, one-time "Rich List" of 1918 (before starting the annual Forbes 400 in 1982), cited Irving T. Bush "of Bush Terminal fame" as one of those "undoubtedly earning several million a year" and just less wealthy than the 30 wealthiest Americans on the list, along with William C. Durant, founder of General Motors and William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate of Chicago Cubs baseball fame.[20]

In 1917, B. C. Forbes also placed Irving T. Bush alongside E. H. Gary (the namesake of Gary, Indiana). Forbes named Irving T. Bush within a brief list of notable American businessmen (including hotelier E. M. Statler) who were living examples of the type of businesspeople whose "industrious, diligent, vigilant foundation-laying" could lead to successful business enterprises.[21]

Irving T. Bush was frequently mentioned in newspaper and magazine articles and wrote a number of business-related stories of his own, including stories in Nation's Business [22], Harper's Weekly, [23], and as president of the New York Chamber of Commerce, an article in Collier's. [24]

Finally, Doubleday published his autobiography, Working with the World in 1928.[25]

Contributions to art and architecture

Within recent decades, scholarly architects have described and critiqued the buildings Irving T. Bush had commissioned. Perhaps mindful of the Dutch ancestry of his family (and of New York's), Irving T. Bush's 1905 townhouse at 28 E. 64th St., Manhattan, by the firm of Kirby, Petit, and Green was "flamboyantly Jacobean, with a high, almost Flemish gable". [26] (See the Bush Terminal article for a look at the Bush Terminal Building in Manhattan, also by Kirby, Petit, and Green in 1905.)

Irving T. Bush commissioned southern California architect Wallace Neff to design his winter home at Mountain Lake Estates in Florida, near the residence (and later tower) of his father's former business partner, Edward W. Bok. Mr. Neff, recently named "architect to the stars" by the Los Angeles Times, designed few houses outside California.[27]

Irving T. Bush also commissioned the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design the grounds of the Florida estate. F.L Olmsted, Jr. was known not only as the son of Central Park's designer, but among numerous other accomplishments, was notable for re-designing the White House grounds in 1930.[28]

After moving from his townhouse at East 64th St., Irving T. Bush lived in the 17-floor tower at 280 Park Avenue, New York, designed by Warren and Wetmore, architects of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu.[29][30]

Like other wealthy Americans, Irving T. Bush collected art. His portrait painting of Russian princess Maria Worontzova (a name Anglicized as Vorontsov) by famed artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter was inherited by his niece and was only recently auctioned at Sotheby's in 2003.[31] Also, Irving T. Bush's acquisition of a Portrait of Henry VII by Jehan de Perreal, a work from the early 1500s, made the news in 1929.[32].

Personal life

Irving T. Bush was in the news from a young age, when he was mentioned in stories of the Coronet's circumnavigation.

He married Belle Barlow, with whom he had two daughters, Eleanor and Beatrice. Divorcing her, he married Maud Beard and had one son, Rufus, named after Irving T. Bush's father.

But it was his 1930 divorce in Reno, Nevada and re-marriage one hour later to dentist, artist, socialite, and philanthropist Marian Spore Bush that made the front page of the New York Times as well as the "Milestones" section of Time magazine.[33] Irving had met Marian, a fellow Michigan expatriate, while working together on a breadline in New York's impoverished Bowery during the late 1920s. After their marriage, they lived at 280 Park Avenue along with Mrs. Marian Spore Bush's niece Helen Tunison, who after Irving's death, dedicated the statue of him at Bush Terminal in front of 3,000 people. [34]

Finally, Irving T. Bush also owned two yachts that subsequently served as patrol boats in the United States Navy. In 1917, during the First World War, the navy bought his 164-foot long (50 meter) steam yacht Christabel and commissioned the vessel as the USS Christabel (SP-162), which took part in at least two actions against German U-Boats and was credited with sinking one.[1] A sailor even won a Medal of Honor during one of these engagements. His larger 185-foot-long (56.6 meters) diesel yacht Coronet, built for him in Germany in 1928 and placed under his wife's name during the Great Depression, was bought by the Navy during World War II and patrolled the Caribbean as the USS Opal (Pyc-8) before being transferred to Ecuador in 1943, where it was scrapped in 1960.

Legacy

Throughout his lifetime, Irving T. Bush made the news for his contributions to business, his involvement in art and architecture, his society connections, and his personal life, not for any conflict with labor or right-wing views. Irving T. Bush left behind Bush Terminal, which not only provided a model for intermodal transportation, it provided employment for thousands and their families. His Bush Tower in Manhattan and Bush House are both landmarks, and he contributed to the architecture and art world through his residential commissions in New York and Florida.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bush, Rufus Ter". The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. 14 (Supp. 1). New York: J. T. White Company. 1910. pp. 102. http://books.google.com/books?id=i-cDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA102&dq=rufus+t+bush. Retrieved on 2008-11-23. 
  2. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About BBC World Service". London: BBC World Service. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/010119_bushhouse.shtml. Retrieved on 29 November 2008. 
  3. ^ a b Denslow, Van Buren (Jan. 1891). "Prominent citizens of New York: Rufus T. Bush," Magazine of Western History 13 (3): 370-379.
  4. ^ a b c d "Irving T. Bush [[; Terminal founder." (Oct. 22, 1948). The New York Times]], p. 25
  5. ^ a b "Coronet". Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1997. pp. 123. ISBN 0395715563. 
  6. ^ Lloyd, Barbara, "For the Coronet, 19th Century Glory" (June 20, 1999). The New York Times
  7. ^ "Where is the Coronet?" (April 23, 1889). The New York Times, p. 5.
  8. ^ A timeline of the yacht's history is available in PDF format at Backgrounder: Coronet History and Milestones"
  9. ^ "Rufus T. Bush's Fatal Error" (Sep. 16, 1890). The New York Times, p. 8
  10. ^ Copley, F. B. (Oct. 1913). "Interesting People: Irving T. Bush." The American Magazine, 76 (4), p. 57-59
  11. ^ Robinson, David, with Martin Scorsese (1997). From Peepshow to Palace: The Birth of American Film New York: Columbia University Press (ISBN 0231103395), p. 44.
  12. ^ a b Bush, Irving T. (1928). "Working With the World. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran, & Co., Unnumbered frontispiece page, 'Cable Address 'Edison New York'
  13. ^ Advertisement. (Oct. 1928) Popular Science 113 (4), p. 156.
  14. ^ "Bush, Irving Ter". The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. 14 (Supp. 1). New York: J. T. White Company. 1910. pp. 102. http://books.google.com/books?id=i-cDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA102&dq=irving+t+bush. Retrieved on 2008-11-23. 
  15. ^ Horseley, Carter B. (Sep. 12, 1976). "Bush Terminal shouldn't be a success - but it is". The New York Times, Section 8, p. 1
  16. ^ Bush, Irving T. (Feb. 1918). "Organizing New York's Port Facilities." The American review of reviews 52 (2):
  17. ^ Bush Terminal Company (1917). Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building & Buyers' Club. New York, Redfield-Kendrick-Odell Co.
  18. ^ Stern, Robert A.M.; Gilmartin, Gregory; & Mellins, Thomas (1987). New York 1930: Architecture and urbanism between the two World Wars. New York: Rizzoli, p. 546.
  19. ^ Saint, Andrew (1984). "Americans in London: Raymond Hood and the National Radiator Building." AA Files 7, 37-38.
  20. ^ Forbes, B. C. (March 2, 1918). "Here's a list of our richest citizens and their fortunes." Forbes. Reprinted as "The First Rich List" on Forbes.com, Sep. 27, 2002. Accessed Dec. 7, 2008.
  21. ^ Forbes, B.C. (1917) Keys to Success: Personal Efficiency. Republished by Kessinger Publishing, 2003 (on Amazon.com), p. 241
  22. ^ Bush, Irving T. (April 1927) "Why Not Put Our Ideals to Work?" 15(4) p. 56,
  23. ^ Bush, Irving T (Feb. 19, 1922). "When Dreams Come True", Harper's Weekly: The Independent 97 (3663)
  24. ^ The response to I.T. Bush's Collier's article is within Nation's Business, (March 1923), p. 40
  25. ^ Bush, Irving T. (1928). Working with the World. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Doran & Co., p. 311
  26. ^ Stern, Robert A. M, Gregory Gilmartin, and John Montague Massengale (1983). New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism, 1890-1915 New York: Rizzoli, 1983, p. 346.
  27. ^ Neff, Wallace (1989). Wallace Neff, 1895-1982: The Romance of Regional Architecture. San Marino, CA: Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, ISBN 0-873-28128-4, p. 128. According to unverified story--one hence placed here in the notes--I.T. Bush was driving around Southern California with his daughter, and all the houses that interested him were by Wallace Neff.
  28. ^ The Olmsted firm's project number for the Irving T. Bush residence was 07428. Plans: 1925-1926 and correspondence 1925-1928. Lawliss, Lucy, Caroline Loughlin, and Lauren Meier (2008). The Master List of Design Projects of the Olmsted Firm, 1857-1979. (2nd Ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Association for Olmsted Parks, National Park Service, p. 160
  29. ^ "280 Park Avenue, New York City" at Emporis.com"
  30. ^ Manhattan: Park Avenue - 48th Street (1922) Image ID 722218F, New York Public Library Digital Gallery. Shows 290 Park Avenue (on west side of Park Avenue between 48th and 49th streets) and 280 Park beyond it.
  31. ^ "Princess Maria Vsilevna Worontzova" Ormond, Richard and Carol Blackett-Ord (1988) Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the courts of Europe, 1830-70 (London : National Portrait Gallery), p. 232. & "Princess Maria Vasilievna Worontzova", PDF of catalog available online.
  32. ^ Henry VII Portrait Acquired by Bush" (Jan. 13, 1929) The New York Times, p. 6)
  33. ^ “Irving T. Bush Weds Miss Marian Spore in Reno One Hour After His Wife Gets Divorce Decree," New York Times, June 10, 1930, p. 1:6; "Milestones," Time, Monday, Jun. 16, 1930
  34. ^ "A Memorial to Founder of Bush Terminal." (Jun. 21, 1950). The New York Times, p. 55

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