Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr.

Jacob Friedrich Schoellkopf Jr. (February 27, 1858 – September 9, 1942) was an American business executive, founder of Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works, and member of the Schoellkopf family who were involved in hydroelectric resources at Niagara Falls.

Jacob Friedrich Schoellkopf Jr.
Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr. in 1908
Born(1858-02-27)February 27, 1858
Buffalo, New York, US
DiedSeptember 9, 1942(1942-09-09) (aged 84)
Buffalo, New York, US
Resting placeForest Lawn Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Munich
University of Stuttgart
OccupationBusiness magnate
Spouse(s)Wilma Spring
Children3
Parent(s)Jacob F. Schoellkopf
Christiana T. Duerr

Early life

Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr. was born in Buffalo on February 27, 1858, the fourth son of industrialist Jacob F. Schoellkopf (1819–1899) and Christiana T. (Duerr) Schoellkopf (1827–1903). He started his education at local schools in Buffalo, then St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Buffalo, afterward going to Germany where he studied for from 1873-1880 at the University of Munich and in Stuttgart specializing in chemistry where he graduated from the Stuttgart-Polytechnic College as a member of the class of 1880.[1]

Career
Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Co. works in Buffalo, New York, formerly the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works, ca. 1908.

After Schoellkopf graduated, he returned to Buffalo, New York from Germany. His studies at the university had involved the subject of coal tar dyes, and he felt that the American market offered a great field for these products.[2] Therefore, he established the "Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works," which was founded shortly after his return to Buffalo and which constituted the largest plant of its kind in the United States. The business later became the "Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Company," of which Schoellkopf was president.[3] As of 1908, the company had $3,000,000 (equivalent to $85,367,000 in 2019) capital, employed 350 men and was paying $15,000 (equivalent to $427,000 in 2019) a month in wages. The plant covered about thirty-six acres of land and consisted of thirty brick buildings.[2]

Additionally, Schoellkopf was president of the "American Magnesia and Covering Company," located at Plymouth Meeting near Philadelphia; vice-president of the "Commonwealth Trust Company" and of the "Central National Bank"; and a director of the Columbia National Bank and of the "Security, Safe Deposit Company." He was also a director of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company; a director of the National Aniline and Chemical Company of New York; also of the "Cliff Paper Company" of Niagara Falls and the "International Hotel Company", also of Niagara Falls. He was president of the "Contact Process Company"[1] and an investor in the "New York State Steel Company"[2] (which later became Republic Steel).[4]

Schoellkopf was president of the "Schoellkopf, Hutton & Pomeroy Investment Bank", a private entity, which later evolved into the "Niagara Share Corp.," a closed-end investment fund.[5] In 1926, Schoellkopf and his son, Jacob F. Schoellkopf III, engaged Esenwein & Johnson to build the "Niagara Share Building" to house the investment bank. The bank was on the third floor of the building and featured a telegraph room and trading floor which was a mini-version of the New York Stock Exchange.

Personal life

On April 1, 1882, Schoellkopf married Wilma Spring (d. 1938), daughter of Alexander Spring, of Stuttgart, Germany. They resided in Buffalo, New York[3] and together they had:

  • Jacob F. Schoellkopf III (1883-1952), who married Olive Abbott (1886-1958), daughter of George Lansing Abbott and Nellie M. Houghton.
  • Ruth Wilma Schoellkopf (1899-1961), who married Philip Phillips (1900-1994) in 1922 in Buffalo, New York.[6]
  • Esther Spring Schoellkopf (b. 1901), who married Ernest Kramer (d. 1955)[7] of Berne, Switzerland on February 13, 1928[8] in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Schoellkopf was a member of the Buffalo Historical Society, of the National Geographical Society of Washington, D.C., and of the American Society for Political and Social Science.[2] He was also a member of the Buffalo Club and the Country Club of Buffalo.[1] He was a trustee of Buffalo General Hospital[2] and the inaugural chair, from 1919-1922, of the Community Foundation Board (now the "Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo").[9]

On September 9, 1942, Schoellkopf died and was buried alongside his wife Wilma, who died September 16, 1938, at Lakeside Memorial Park Cemetery. At his death, Schoellkopf left $50,000 (equivalent to $782,000 in 2019) to the Buffalo Council of the Boy Scouts of America and an additional $50,000 (equivalent to $782,000 in 2019) among six public, welfare and educational organizations.[10] Additionally, he made bequests to several of his employees, including $10,000 (equivalent to $156,000 in 2019) to his housekeeper, Rose Boger. The majority of his estate was left to his three children.[10]

gollark: Ah yes, WM *does* contain a database!
gollark: Oh, so two things use SQLite now.
gollark: It has an SQLite database only because I was able to trek through enough of the code to make Markov data go there.
gollark: Actually, no.
gollark: See, this works brilliantly.

See also

References
  1. Cutter, William Richard (1912). Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Vol. I. Buffalo, NY. p. 394.
  2. Memorial and Family History of Erie County, New York. Buffalo, NY: Genealogical Publishing Company. 1908. pp. 134–136. Retrieved 25 October 2015. schoellkopf aniline and chemical works.
  3. "Schoellkopf, Jacob F - Erie County". newyorkroots.org. 2015 New York Genealogy Project. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  4. Wooster, Margaret (January 29, 2009). Living Waters: Reading the Rivers of the Lower Great Lakes. SUNY Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780791477120. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. LaChiusa, Chuck. "History, Exterior - Niagara Share Building". buffaloah.com. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  6. Philip Phillips; James A. Ford; James Alfred Ford; James B. Griffin; Stephen Williams (2003). Archaeological Survey in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley 1940-1947. The University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817350222. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. "Deaths". The Age. October 6, 1955. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  8. "Marriages: Oahu (1911-1929)". ulukau.org. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  9. "Past Chairs of the Community Foundation Board" (PDF). cfgb.org. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  10. "Schoellkopf Will Leaves $50,000 to Boy Scouts" (PDF). Lockport N.Y. - Union-Sun & Journal. September 16, 1942. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
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