William Plankinton (November 7, 1843 – April 29, 1905) was an American businessman, manufacturer, and industrialist. He followed in his father's footsteps in the meat packing and meat processing industry.
William Plankinton | |
|---|---|
 Plankinton c. 1905 | |
| Born | November 7, 1843 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 29, 1905 (aged 61) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman and industrialist |
| Spouse | Mary Ella Woods |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | John Plankinton Elizabeth Bracken Plankinton |
| Relatives | Elizabeth Plankinton (sister) |
Plankinton was associated with the Milwaukee museum, public library, industrial exposition and Chamber of Commerce. As a businessman he was a banker. He was implicated in a scandal of fraud and embezzlement, for which he was sued.
Early life
editPlankinton was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 1843.[2] He was the son of John Plankinton and Elizabeth Bracken Plankinton. While he was still a baby his parents moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory. He received his early education in the Milwaukee public schools. After graduating from high school, he attended a college in Milwaukee.[3][4]
Career
editPlankinton was employed by his father after he graduated from the Milwaukee college. He soon became a partner in his father's pork and beef packing company. He helped to establish branches in Chicago, Kansas City and New York.[3] The firm became known in 1893 as the Plankinton Packing Company when the Cudahy brothers moved their operations south to a site just outside of Milwaukee.[5] Plankinton's main competitors were the meat packing companies of Chicago.[6]
Plankinton helped found and organize several companies, including the Milwaukee-based Johnson Electric Company.[7] He founded and was part owner of the Western Portland Cement company in Yankton, South Dakota.[4] Plankinton held several public offices and was a director of the Milwaukee museum, the city public library, and the Milwaukee industrial exposition.[4] He was also associated with Layton art gallery and the local Chamber of Commerce.[8] Plankinton was one of the financial backers of the Postal Telegraph Company that involved telegraph lines in Wisconsin and Michigan.[9]
Plankinton became vice-president of the Plankinton Bank in 1891 upon his father's death.[10] He was involved with settling the affairs when the bank failed in 1893.[11][12][13] The bank crisis involved a scandal of fraud and embezzlement in which Plankinton was implicated.[14] He was sued to pay back all that was owed to the depositors and creditors.[15][16][17]
Loans made by the bank to Frank A. Lappen and his companies totaling almost $300,000 precipitated the crisis.[18][19][20] Lappen was summoned to court to testify about his failure to pay back creditors $750,000, but disappeared to Mexico and could not be extradited.[21] Philip Danforth Armour, the Chicago meat packer businessman of Armour and Company, was reported to have given $600,000 in gold to help the Plankinton bank pay back those it owed money to.[22]
Personal
editOn 26 April 1876, he married Mary Ella Woods, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they had two children.[3][4] He lived next door to his father in a mansion on Grand Avenue in Milwaukee given to him by his father as a wedding gift.[23]
Later life and death
editPlankinton died in Milwaukee on April 29, 1905.[4][24] The cause of his death was pneumonia, which he had suffered from for three months prior.[25][26][27] Plankinton left an estate valued at approximately $4 million to his heirs.[28][29] His widowed wife received a third and his children split the remainder in equal shares that included the widow.[30] She died September 7, 1908.[31]
References
edit- ^ Buck 1886, p. 178.
- ^ Historical Society 1906, p. 139.
- ^ a b c Watrous 1909, p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e Wilson, Fiske & Dick 1915, p. 997.
- ^ Apps 2015, p. 210.
- ^ Bowman 1948, p. 175.
- ^ Martin, Chuck (April 11, 1985). "Johnson Controls a model for future". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "Brief biography of John Plankinton, a meat packer and businessman". Historical Essay of Plankinton, John (1820–1891). Wisconsin Historical Society. 22 January 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ^ "Postal Telegraph Co". The Oshkosh Northwestern. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. December 17, 1895. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "CLOSED ITS DOORS". Wichita Beacon. Wichita, Kansas. June 1, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Finally Succumbed". Sedalia Weekly Bazoo. Sedali,Missouri. June 6, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Many Indicted". Logansport Reporter. Logansport, Indiana. July 13, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Bank Failure / The Plankinton Bank at Milwaukee Suspends". Parsons Daily Sun. Parsons, Kansas. June 2, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "May yet have to pay". The ChicagoChronicle. Chicago, Illinois. August 15, 1897 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "A Judge at the bar". Montreal River Miner and Iron County Republican. Hurley, Wisconsin. July 22, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "To arrest F.T. Day". Portage Daily Democrat. Portage, Wisconsin. September 26, 1894 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Plankinton sued". The Oshkosh Northwestern. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. August 9, 1899 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "The Big Bank Closed / The Plankinton Institution Fails at Milwaukee". Scranton Republican. Scranton, Pennsylvania. June 2, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "A Broken Bank". The Appleton Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. June 10, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Under Arrest / Officers and Directors of the Plankinton Bank indicted". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. July 13, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "All Found Culpable / Plankinton bank officers and Lappen are indicted". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. July 13, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Its Doors are Closed / The Plankinton Bank of Milwaukee suspended". The Leavenworth Times. Leavenworth, Kansas. June 2, 1893 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Buck 1890, pp. 178–179.
- ^ Chilton 1905, p. 1608.
- ^ "The News in Brief". Marengo Republican-News. Marengo, Illinois. May 5, 1905 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Latest News in Brief". The Tiller and Toiler. Learned, Kansas. May 5, 1905 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Deaths of the Day". Los Angeles Herald. Los Angeles, California. April 30, 1905 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ West 1918, p. 18.
- ^ "Plankinton Engaged to Milwaukee Girl". The Racine Journal-Times. Racine, Wisconsin. April 29, 1936 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Wm. Plankinton has left no will". The La Crosse. La Crosse, Wisconsin. May 3, 190 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Mrs Plankinton Dead". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. September 8, 1908 – via Newspapers.com .
Sources
edit- Apps, Jerry (17 August 2015). Wisconsin Agriculture: A History. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87020-725-9.
- Bowman, Francis Favill (1948). Why Wisconsin. F.F. Bowman.
- Buck, James Smith (1886). Milwaukee Under the Charter: Volume 4 – From 1854 to 1860 Inclusive. Milwaukee News Co.
- Buck, James Smith (1890). Pioneer History of Milwaukee.
- Chilton (1905). The Iron Age. Chilton Company.
- Historical Society (1906). Society at Its 34th Annual Meeting Proceedings. State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
- Watrous, Jerome A. (1909). Memoirs of Milwaukee County. Western Historical Association. p. 20.
- West (1918). The Northwestern Reporter. West Publishing Company.
- Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John; Dick, Charles (1915). Encyclopedia of American Biography. Press Association Compilers.