Hugh Joseph Chisholm I ( ; May 2, 1847 – July 1, 1912) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

industrialist who later became a citizen of the

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. He was born in Chippawa,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, to parents of

Scottish ancestry Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the Scotland in the Early Middle Ages, early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who f ...

. His early years as an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

in the news distribution business provided a foundation for his later accomplishments in the

pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is intr ...

. His founding and leadership of pulp and paper, fibre-ware, and light and power companies as well as banks and railways made him a dominant figure in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

industry. His legacy went beyond his reputation as a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, however; he created the first

forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes man ...

program for

International Paper Company The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 39,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

and developed a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

for the workers in his mills which was a model for the nation.

Early life

Hugh J. Chisholm was the fifth of ten children of Alexander Chisholm and Mary Margaret Phelan of

Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...

. He attended school there until he was thirteen, when his father's death made it necessary for him to leave school to help support the family. In

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, he found employment as a newsboy distributing newspapers to passengers on the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

and the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s, where he made friends with

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

, who was a newsboy on a nearby line. An entrepreneur from an early age, Chisholm soon began buying his own copies of the papers, rather than selling them as an agent for another company. As his earnings grew, he was able to attend business classes at the Commercial College of Bryant and Stratton. In 1861, his brother joined him and formed Chisholm Brothers, which distributed papers over much of Canada and the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. By the time he was sixteen, he was able to buy out his former employer, hiring over two hundred newsboys to sell papers, magazines and books to railway and steamboat customers. This company developed into Chisholm Brothers Publishing in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

Industrialist and entrepreneur

With his knowledge of what customers were reading, Chisholm Brothers began printing travel guides and founded a

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

company in

, moving to

half-tone Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.Campbell, Alastair. ''The Designer's Lexicon''. ©2000 Chronicl ...

photographs and then eventually, in 1888, to picture

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

s. Chisholm became a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

and moved to Portland in the mid-1870s. After a foray into

patenting A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

and manufacturing fibre-ware products, Chisholm became interested in paper and pulp, and, with other capitalists whom he interested in his projects, started several pulp and paper companies in western Maine, including the Umbagog Pulp Company; Otis Falls Pulp and Paper Co.; Rumford Falls Paper Company, Somerset Fibre Company the Oxford Paper Company, the Rumford Falls Sulfite Company; the Continental Bag Company and, with the Hon. William A. Russell co-founded the International Paper Company in 1896. The Otis Falls Pulp Company mill in

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

, built in 1888, was then the third largest

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

in the country. The Oxford Paper Company's mill in Rumford began producing paper in 1901, and subsequently produced all postcards for the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

. This mill became the largest bookpaper mill in the world under one roof, and has operated continuously since that time under several different companies. Chisholm was the second president of International Paper Company, succeeding its first president, The Hon. William Augustus Russell, who died suddenly in January 1899, after founding IP (with Chisholm), which was then the largest paper company in the world. Chisholm succeeded W. A. Russell as president from 1899 to 1907. The combined efforts of William A. Russell and Hugh J. Chisholm eventually brought together 30 pulp and paper mills from across US and Canada. Chisholm went on to initiate the first forest management program for that company and developed a close relationship with the Yale University School of Forestry. Chisholm's entrepreneurial interests also included founding and leading the Livermore Falls Iron Foundry; Rumford Falls Power Company; Portland and Rumford Falls Railway, and the Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes Railroad.

Community builder and philanthropist

Chisholm, with George N. Fletcher of

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and Charles D. Brown of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, acquired considerable land around Pennacook Falls on the

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Ammoscongon'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data''The National Map'', a ...

in Maine, where they planned the town of Rumford Falls. It grew up around the mills very much in accord with their plans. Chisholm had a particular interest in providing comfortable housing for the many mill workers who were attracted by employment from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Canada, and other parts of the United States, and to that end researched mill housing initiatives at that time. He was aware of the

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

s and stacked

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

s near mills in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, and became convinced that satisfactory comfort and amenities were both practical and enlightened. He established the Rumford Realty Company and began construction of one of the first planned communities in Maine, and a model for the nation. The large brick and slate duplex houses with manicured lawns were to be arranged around treed parks. Named after his ancestral home in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and designed and built by architect

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of Early skyscrapers, skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minneso ...

, Strathglass Park in Rumford provided housing for many mill workers. His interest in developing a community in which people would want to live extended to other aspects of the town as well. In 1911, he founded the Rumford Mechanics Institute, a social and recreational center for residents which was partially supported through membership dues.

Personal life

On September 5, 1872, he married Henrietta Mason, of Portland, and they had one son, Hugh Chisholm Jr. Chisholm's son and then his grandson, William Chisholm, were subsequent presidents of the Oxford Paper Mill. Chisholm died in 1912 in his home at 813

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is interred in an elaborate mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery in

. It was commissioned by his wife after his death and has been described as one of the "most striking monuments" in the cemetery.

References

External links