Arthur Hind (1856–1933), of

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

, was a British-born American

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

Business interests

He was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and later lived on Maple Street in

, in the

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

. He was owner of Hind-Harrison Plush Co. in

Clark Mills, New York Clark Mills is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,905 at the 2010 census. The community is located at the northeastern corner of the Town of Kirkland, west of the City of Utic ...

, which made

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

s for

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

s. He immigrated to the United States from Bradford in 1890. He became an American citizen in July 1896.

Philatelic activity

Hind formed an outstanding collection of stamps of the United States. Like

Thomas Tapling Thomas Keay Tapling (30 October 1855 – 11 April 1891) was an English businessman and politician. He played first-class cricket and was also an eminent philatelist who formed one of the greatest stamp collections of his era. Early life Taplin ...

, Hind poured the profits from his business into rare stamps, and soon acquired many of the world's greatest rarities. Among these were the Bordeaux Letter, which Roger Calves considered "le plat de résistance (main course) de toute la philatélie" or "the greatest item in all philately", purchased in 1922 from Alfred F. Lichtenstein. He also owned the two "Post Office" Mauritius stamps, both unused, purchased from Henry Duveen. At the Ferrary sale, Hind purchased the One Cent Magenta British Guiana for a world-record price, as well as all of the best U.S. Postmasters' Provisionals. According to Alexander Séfi, because of his obsession with the "black on magenta," Hind (according to rumor) bought not only one of the stamps, but the other remaining one, and then destroyed one so that he would own the only one in the world. After Hind died, his American stamps were sold at auction for $247,000, in November 1933. The following February his nephew, F.J.M. Hinds, bought all the remaining stamps from the collection, preventing them from going to auction. He immediately transported them to England.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hind, Arthur 1856 births 1933 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople American investors American philatelists British emigrants to the United States