Hugh Pitcairn (August 16, 1845 – July 19, 1911) served as the first United States consul general to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, from 1903 to 1908. He was the brother of Pennsylvania railroad magnate

Robert Pitcairn Robert Pitcairn (May 6, 1836 – July 25, 1909) was a Scottish-American railroad executive who headed the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 19th century. He was the brother of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now P ...

and industrialist

John Pitcairn Major John Pitcairn (28 December 1722 – 17 June 1775) was a British military officer. Born in Dysart, Fife, he enlisted in the Chatham Marine Division of the British Naval Service at the age of 23. He served in North America during the Fr ...

Early life

Pitcairn was born in

Johnstone Johnstone (,
) is a town in the

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

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 ...

, to John Pitcairn Sr. (1803–1884) and Agnes McEwan. He was one of six children resulting from the marriage, and also had two older half-siblings from his father's first marriage. In 1846, he emigrated with his family to

Allegheny, Pennsylvania Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

, where his uncle, Alexander Pitcairn, had started a

woolen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

s business. He received a public school education in Allegheny and

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...

. He began his career in the railroad service, and held a series of executive positions in the field: first as superintendent of the Susquehanna Division of the

Northern Central Railway The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad in the United States connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania R ...

, in 1866; then as superintendent of the

Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the 19th and 20th centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N). For much of its lifetime, however, it ...

in 1868, next as superintendent of the Evansville, Henderson and Nashville Railroad in 1870, and finally, as superintendent of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway from 1872 to 1875. Pitcairn then went back to school to study medicine, and following graduation from Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1880, spent two years in post graduate study at the Universities of Berlin and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He then practiced medicine in

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

from 1880 to 1897. In 1875, Pitcairn purchased a half interest the

Altoona Tribune The ''Altoona Tribune'' was a daily newspaper in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It was in operation from 1856 to 1957. History It was launched on January 1, 1856, by Ephraim B. McCrum and William M. Allison, with equipment purchased from the defunc ...

, a Pennsylvania daily newspaper. He was to retain this share until his death.

Political career

A Republican, Pitcairn was quite active in local and state politics. On July 28, 1897, he was appointed by President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

to the post of consul to

. He was promoted by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

to the post of consul general on January 5, 1903, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 12, 1903. He was the first person to hold this post for Hamburg. He retired from the consulate in November 1908 to the reported regret of the citizens of Hamburg, in order to devote his full attention to the practice of medicine and his duties as partial owner of the ''

''.

Later life and death

Pitcairn died in Hamburg, on July 19, 1911. He was survived by his wife and five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitcairn, Hugh 1845 births 1911 deaths American expatriates in the German Empire People from Pennsylvania Scottish emigrants to the United States Drexel University alumni University of Vienna alumni