Horace Reynolds Graham Sr. (1886 - 1954)

Born 11 Jun 1886 in 305 W. 46th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York , United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Nov 1954 at age 68 in New York, New York , United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rob Graham [send private message]

Biography

Horace Reynolds Graham was born on June 11th, 1886 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, first child and son of William Horace Graham and Teresa Lo Reynolds. ^[1]

Horace's father, Willam died in March of 1900. Informal family oral history is that the death was suicide, caused by financial ruin from stock market losses. This was said to have angered and motivated Horace, accounting in large part for his lifelong drive to succeed.^[2]

In September of 1900, Horace entered the Horace Mann School, from which he graduated in the spring of 1904. ^[3]

He entered Columbia University in September of 1904,^[4] and graduated in 1908 from the School of Mines (now the Fu School of Applied Science and Engineering) with a Batchelor of Science in Mining Engineering.^[3][5] In 1907, in the summer of his junior year at Columbia, he worked as a mine laborer at Cripple Creek, Colorado.^[5].

In 1908, after graduation from Columbia, he was employed by Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. of McGill, Nevada. He held the positions of workman in the Boiler Shop and Smelter, Foreman of Concentrator Construction, Foreman of Sampling Crushing Mill, Engineer, and Draftsman over the course of the two years that he was employed by Consolidated Copper^[5].

In 1910, he was employed by the Braden Copper Company to work at the El Teniente Copper Mine at Sewell, Chile, near Rancagua, Chile. Horace Worked at Sewell until 1919, holding positions as Construction Engineer Mill and Smelter, Engineer Mine, Shift Boss, Foreman General underground, Foreman Superintendent, and General Superintendent Mines and Welfare^[5].

While at Sewell, he met and married, on April 22, 1913, Leah Chambers^[6] , with whom he had three children daughter Lita, son Horace Jr,, and daughter Mani all of whom were born at Sewell.

In 1919, Horace joined the Guggenheim mining interests, serving as general manager for the Guggenheim interests in Bolivia, primarily Caracoles, Potosi, Aramayo, and Quechisla.^[5] He served in this capacity until 1929, when he became Executive Vice President of Lautaro Nitrate Company Ltd. and Anglo Chilean Nitrate Corporation. becoming President and Director of both companies in 1951, and President of the combined company, Anglo Lautaro Nitrate Corporation, and a partner in Guggenheim Brothers, NYC, until his retirement in 1954.^[5]

Horace was twice awarded the Order of Merit of Chile (Orden Del Merito)

Placa de la Orden al Merito de Chile

, first in the grade of Comander (Comendator), second in the grade of Grand Official (Gran Oficial)^[7].

He was also awarderd the Bolivian Order of the Condor of the Andes (Orden del Condor de los Andes)^[7]

Orden del Condor de los Andes

and the Medal of Merit of Columbia University, his Alma Mater.

He passed away on November 8, 1954. at 11:15 P.M. seated in an automobile at Laguardia Airport, Queens, New York, N.Y at the age of 68 years.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth return, City of New York, Department of Health, Bureau of Records and Statistics, Borough of Manhattan, New York, N.Y. ; Nov 9, 1946 Photocopy of original certificate on file with Bureau of Records and Statistics citing Name of Child: Horace Reynolds Graham; Sex: male; Date of Birth: June 11th, 1986; Place of Birth: 305 West 46th Street; Name of Father: William Horace Graham; Full Name of Mother: Teresa Lo Graham; Maiden Name of Mother: Teresa Lo Reynolds; Birthplace of Mother: New York City; Age: 25; Birthplace of Father: New York City; Age: 36; Occupation: Broker;Name and address of medical attendant: J.C. Thomas, 107 West 47th Street; Date of this Return: June 15th 1886 | image of Birth Return photocopy
2. ↑ Oral history as told to Rob Graham by Leah Chambers Graham and others.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Prabook Website Biography Horace Graham
4. ↑ "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; Yearbook Title: Columbian; Year: 1906 Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} Resume of Horace Reynolds Graham as prepared by his private secretary, Josephine Simon 1954 see scanned image of original letter as PDF. The original document is in the personal files of Rob Graham
6. ↑ Certified copy of marriage certificate issued in Rancagua, Chile on Feb. 19, 1948. The original issue date for the certificate (and the date of the marriage) was April 22, 1913. See scanned image copy of the license. The document is in the personal files of Rob Graham
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile; 8 December 1953, article "Homenaje al trabajador chileno tributo en Concepcion ingenero norteameircano D. Horace Graham" ( see image of article clipping)
8. ↑ City of New York, Department of Health, Bureau of Records and Statistics, Borough of Queens, New York, N.Y. May 2,1966 ; Certificate of Death; Filed: Nov 10, 1:28 PM, 1954; Certificate No.: 156-54 410532; Citing: Name of Deceased: Horace R. Graham; Usual Residence: 1 Beekman Place; New York, New York; Length of residence immediately prior to death: 22 Years; Single,Married, widowed, or Divorced: Married; Date of birth of Decedent: June 11, 1886; Age: 68 Yrs; Usual Occupation: Mining Engineer; Birthplace: New York, N.y.; Was deceased Ever in the Armed Forces?: No; Name of Father of Decedent: William R. Graham; Name of Informant: Mrs. Leah Graham; relationship to Decedent: Wife; Address: 1 Beekman Place, New York, N.y.; Name of Cemetery or Crematory: Gate of Heaven Cem.; Place of Death: New York City; Borough: Queens; location or Institution: LaGuardia Airport; Character of location: Seated in Auto; Date and Hour of Death November 8, 1954, 11:15 p.; Sex: Male; Color or Race: White; Approximate Age: 65 yrs.; image of a photocopy of original certificate

See also:

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #192349953 (accessed 21 May 2023)
  Memorial page for Horace Reynolds Graham (1886-1954), citing Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, USA (plot: Section 41, Block 1, Row / Area / Niche Bank / Corridor: 35, Grave: 3); Maintained by Bobby Kelley (contributor 46959922).