Albert Cameron Burrage was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts on November 21, 1859. \u00a0His parents were George S. and Aurelia Chamberlin Burrage, descendants of old New England families. \u00a0John Burrage arrived from England in 1636. \u00a0\u00a0When Albert Burrage was three, the family moved West.<\/p>\n
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Throughout his life, Burrage had an allegiance both to Massachusetts and the Western states. \u00a0Educated in California, he graduated from Harvard University in 1883 with an A.B. degree. \u00a0He married Alice Hathaway Haskell in 1885. \u00a0The couple had four children: \u00a0Albert Cameron, Jr., Francis H., Elizabeth A. (Mrs. Harold L. Chalifoux), and Russell.<\/p>\n
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In 1884 Burrage was admitted to the Massachusetts bar and began his career as a lawyer. \u00a0He was named counsel for the Brookline Gas Light Company in 1892. \u00a0Later he became president of the Boston, South Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester Gas Light companies and the Bay State Gas Company. \u00a0In 1898, he
\nresigned these positions because cities were starting to switch to electricity for lighting and his interest had turned to copper mining on a large scale. \u00a0He organized the Amalgamated Copper Company and \u00a0was one of the founders of the Chile Exploration Company and of the Chile Copper Company. \u00a0He pursued the development of new processes for the treatment of low-grade copper ores. \u00a0By the end of the century, Burrage had major roles in both Amalgamated Copper and Standard Oil and was regarded as one of the preeminent men of the era. \u00a0He remained a director of Amalgamated Copper until it was dissolved during the era of President Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busters.<\/p>\n
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Burrage was active in Boston\u2019s civic, political and social circles. \u00a0He served on the Boston Common Council in 1892, getting approval of the “Burrage Ordinance” which prohibited city employees from being members of a political action group. \u00a0He was a member of the Boston Transit Commission that built
\nthe Boston subway system. \u00a0In politics he was a Republican. \u00a0He was affiliated with many clubs including the Harvard, Union, Algonquin, Boston Art, Country and Eastern Clubs. \u00a0In New York, he joined the Bankers Club and New York Yacht Club.<\/p>\n
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A philanthropist, Burrage donated the funds to build the Burrage Hospital for Crippled Children in Boston. \u00a0During World War I, he loaned his 260 foot, steam powered \u00a0yacht and other personal assets, to the government to assist the war effort.<\/p>\n
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However, Burrage was upset about the condition of the Aztec when it was returned to him after the war. \u00a0He filed a claim with the government for $325,000 in repairs and $60,000 for the loss of use of the yacht. \u00a0His attorney, the Hon. William Gibbs McAdoo, succeeded in getting $300,000.<\/p>\n
He traveled widely, but Boston was the location of his main office and residence. \u00a0In 1899 he built an imposing mansion at 314 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay section of the city. \u00a0The architect was the notable Charles Brigham. \u00a0The multi-story home was designed in the manner of the Vanderbilt House in New York, which itself was inspired by the French chateau Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley. \u00a0For the construction, Burrage used the finest materials-European marble, rare mahogany, stained glass windows and intricately designed mosaic tiles. \u00a0The exterior has nearly 50 dragons and gargoyles, 30 cherubs, 300 bibliophiles, and lion, eagle, and human heads carved into the elaborate stonework. \u00a0The mansion was a reflection of Burrage\u2019s success as an entrepreneur and of his personal wealth.<\/p>\n
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In 1901 Burrage built a huge 28 room estate at 1205 West Crescent Avenue in Redlands, California. \u00a0It was also designed by architect Charles Brigham. \u00a0Occupied for only two months a year for several years, the mansion was mainly used for entertaining. \u00a0The Burrage polo ponies were transported there by
\nprivate Pullman car so guests could play polo on the grounds. \u00a0There were elaborate parties in the glass-covered swimming pool, which could be covered by a wooden floor for dancing.<\/p>\n
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During World War I there was high demand for dyestuffs and many entrepreneurs risked capital to establish domestic manufacturing facilities. \u00a0In 1916 Burrage started the Atlantic Dyestuff Company in Boston with capital of $0.5 million, later increased to $1.0 million. \u00a0His brother Charles, also a lawyer, was treasurer and his son Albert Jr. was a director. \u00a0The first plant was established near Hanson, Massachusetts but was destroyed by fire in 1919. \u00a0A new plant was built in 1920 at Newington, New Hampshire. \u00a0Sales offices were setup in New England, New York, Chicago, Charlotte and other locations where textiles were produced.<\/p>\n
After a strong start in the early 1920’s, Atlantic Dyestuff faced fierce competition from larger dye producers who had the advantage of lower raw material and production costs. \u00a0The company went bankrupt in 1925 and was reorganized as the Portsmouth Dye and Chemical Company. \u00a0There was an attempt to diversify with rubber chemicals manufacturing, but the business failed by the time of the Great Depression in 1930.<\/p>\n
The Atlantic Dyestuff Company was one of several chemical businesses that Burrage owned under a parent company called the Drugs and Dyestuffs Corporation of New York. \u00a0Another division was the Charleston Chemical Company, located on a 40 acre site on the Kanawha River in Belle, West Virginia. \u00a0This plant was engaged in the production of war chemicals during World War I until destroyed by fire in 1918. \u00a0Production was resumed in a temporary building and plans were announced in 1920 to rebuild the plant and triple the capacity for organic chemicals. \u00a0But the company fell on hard times and in 1922 Burrage won a judgement of $617, 575 for money that had been advanced and due on notes. \u00a0\u00a0The plant was auctioned in December 1922 and the property was acquired in 1925 by Du Pont for a synthetic ammonia plant.<\/p>\n
Burrage was an avid horticulturalist and was well known for his tropical orchids. \u00a0He was president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the first president of the American Orchid Society in 1921. \u00a0He authored the book \u201cBurrage on Vegetables\u201d and received the Lindley Medal of the Royal
\nHorticultural Society.<\/p>\n
In 1921 Burrage purchased an estate in Manchester-by-the-Sea, a seaside community on Boston’s North Shore. \u00a0The Georgian mansion was designed by the Little & Brown architectural firm and built in 1880. \u00a0The Burrage family called it “Seahome” and used it primarily as a summer retreat. \u00a0The eight-acre property, located on a private penisula with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean, has a greenhouse, topiary garden, deepwater dock, oceanfront swimming pool, and a stretch of sandy beach.<\/p>\n
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In June 1931, Burrage attended the wedding of his granddaughter, Katherine Lee Burrage to Forrester A. Clark. \u00a0The evening before, the Burrages hosted a dance aboard their yacht \u201cAztec\u201d for the wedding party. \u00a0On June 28, 1931, Burrage died at his summer estate Seahome. He had been in poor health for a
\nyear. \u00a0Survivors included his wife Alice and children Albert Jr., Russell, and Elizabeth (Mrs. Harold L. Chalifoux).<\/p>\n
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In 1911 Burrage had purchased at auction the gold collection of George de la Bouglise, a famous French mining engineer. \u00a0This impressive collection of gold specimens, along with Bisbee azurites and malachites, was bequeathed to the Harvard Mineralogical Museum. \u00a0His extensive library of horticultural books was donated to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.<\/p>\n
The Burrage wealth quickly disappeared after his death in 1931. \u00a0His estate was thought to be worth almost $6.0 million. \u00a0Alice Burrage found that the estate was valued at just $3.25 million. \u00a0The Guggenheim Brothers contested the estate, since Burrage was heavily in debt to them for the Chile venture. \u00a0In reality the estate was $1.8 million in the red. \u00a0Alice Burrage used $1.8 million of her own money to settle the case. \u00a0The sons of Burrage were in debt to their mother for hundreds of thousands of dollars and were listed as liabilities in her probate record of 1947.<\/p>\n
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References:<\/p>\n
1) “Fire Destroys Large Belle Chemical Plant”, Charleston Daily Mail, October 7, 1918
\n2) “Chemical Plant Will Be Tripled in Capacity”, Charleston Daily Mail, March 23, 1920
\n3) “Award to A. Burrage Judgement of $617, 575”, Charleston Daily Mail, October 19, 1922
\n4) “Sale of Valuable Real and Personal Property”, Charleston Daily Mail, November 24, 1922
\n5) “Navy”, Time, April 28, 1924
\n6) “Du Pont Interests to Enter Kanawha VAlley; Buy Plants at Belle”, Charleston Gazette, April 30, 1925
\n7) \u00a0“A.C. Burrage Dead; Boston Attorney”, The New York Times, June 30, 1931
\n8) \u00a0Who Was Who in America, Vol. I, 1897-1942, Marquis Who’s Who Inc., Chicago, pp. 171-172
\n9) Marty D. Wolford, “Gargoyles!”, Boston Globe, March 4, 2004
\n10) “Hidden History”, Panorama Magazine: The Official Guide to Boston, www.panoramamagazine.com
\n11) Carl A. Francis, “An American Perspective on Russian Gold Specimens”, Rocks and Minerals, May-June 2004
\n12) “The Burrage House-Study Report”, Boston Landmarks Commission, Environment Department, City of Boston, ca. 2000
\n13) Merit McIntyre, personal communication, August 15-16, 2006<\/p>\n
[ColorantsHistory.Org cites Merit McIntyre for his contributions to this biography.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21864,"template":"","photo_tag":[],"gallery":[176],"awards_category":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo\/21859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/photo"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo\/21859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"photo_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo_tag?post=21859"},{"taxonomy":"gallery","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gallery?post=21859"},{"taxonomy":"awards_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rahs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/awards_category?post=21859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}