After graduation he worked at the Belmont banking house, August Belmont & Co.[3] At the death of his father in 1890, he became the head of the company.[3]
Belmont founded the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1902 to help finance the construction of and operate the first line of what is now the New York City Subway. He served as president, and, in 1907, chairman of the company.[7] Belmont holds the distinction of owning the world's only purpose built private subway car. Named Mineola, it was used by Belmont to give tours of the IRT. The car is now preserved at the Shore Line Trolley Museum.
World War I
Following the United States' entry into World War I, Belmont, at age 64, volunteered to assist the war effort and was sent to France by the United States Army. He received a commission as major in the United States Army Air Service on November 9, 1917, in France.
He was assigned to the supply department of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) and conducted negotiations with the government of Spain to procure supplies for the AEF. He was on detached service to the United States from February 16 to October 23, 1918, when he returned to France. He returned to the United States on December 21 and was discharged from the Army on January 6, 1919. He was one of the oldest officers to serve in the U.S. Army during the First World War.[8]
During the war, his son, Morgan Belmont, served as a lieutenant at the Aviation Instruction Center at Foggia, Italy. Another son, Raymond Belmont, served as an Infantry officer with the 78th Division in France and participated in Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives.
His wife, Eleanor, also devoted much time to raising funds in aid of Belgian relief efforts and for the Red Cross, she made a number of trans-Atlantic trips as an inspector of United States Army camps.[9]
Cape Cod Canal
Belmont was instrumental in making the Cape Cod Canal a reality. The grand opening of the Cape Cod Canal took place on July 29, 1914, and it was soon plagued with troubles. Belmont's canal was expensive for mariners, costing as much as $16.00 for a trip by schooner, a considerable sum in those days. The narrow 140-foot (43m) width and shallow 25-foot (7.6m) depth of the canal made navigation difficult, and tidal flows created dangerous currents, so many mariners continued to use the routes around the cape. As a result, tolls did not live up to expectations and the Cape Cod Canal became a losing proposition. As a result, the canal was purchased by the U.S. government on March 30, 1928. [citation needed]
Thoroughbred horse racing
Like his father, Belmont was an avid Thoroughbred racing fan. According to his Time obituary, Belmont "is credited with having saved thoroughbred racing when it was at its lowest ebb in the East, after the repeal of the racing law in New York State."
Belmont inherited Nursery Stud, a Thoroughbred breeding operation established in 1867 by his father at his 1,100-acre (4.5km2)Babylon, New York, estate. There, Belmont raised polo ponies and played on a polo team with Harry Payne Whitney. It was here he stood the Hall of FamestallionKentucky. In the early 1880s, Belmont Sr. leased a farm property in Kentucky, located about three miles outside Lexington. After transferring all of the breeding business there, Belmont Jr. developed a very important stud farm whose influences are still felt today. Given the same name as the New York operation, at the Kentucky Nursery Stud he bred 129 American Stakes winners. The greatest of the horses he bred was Man o' War, born while he was serving overseas in World War I. In his absence, his wife Eleanor named the new foal "My Man o' War" in honor of her husband but because of his age and the uncertainty as to the war's end, Belmont Jr. decided to disband the stable and with the "My" dropped from the name, Man o' War was sold to Glen Riddle Farm in Maryland.
Belmont organized the Westchester Racing Association in 1895. In 1905 he built Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, on Long Island which operates to this day as the largest thoroughbred racing facility in the state. In the year of its opening, the prestigious Belmont Stakes, inaugurated in 1867 and named in his father's honor, was transferred from the financially troubled Morris Park Racecourse. Three times, horses from Belmont's stable won the Belmont Stakes, the first coming in 1902 followed by back-to-back wins in 1916 and 1917.
Belmont was a Wright Company stockholder and he was selected to be the president of the 1910 International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park organizing committee. The venue selected for the aviation tournament was August Belmont's racetrack at Belmont Park.[10]
Belmont also had horses competing in England and in 1908 his American-bred colt Norman III won a British Classic Race, the 2,000 Guineas. In addition to his Kentucky horse farm, in 1908 Belmont established Haras de Villers, a breeding operation near Foucarmont in Upper Normandy, France. Following the cessation of racing in New York State as a result of the Hart–Agnew Law banning parimutuel betting, Belmont stood American stallions at Haras de Villers such as Flint Rock, Ethelbert, and the sire of Norman III, Octagon. At his French farm, he bred notable horses such as Prix de Diane winner Qu'elle est Belle as well as Vulcain, one of the best three-year-olds of his generation in France.[11]
Belmont operated the Kentucky farm until his death in 1924 after which the business was broken up and its bloodstock sold. According to Thoroughbred Heritage, today the property is home to a condominium development. Its horse cemetery, which became part of Hurstland Farm then the Nuckols Farm, is now occupied by the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital.
His son Raymond owned Belray Farm near Middleburg, Virginia, where the Hall of Fame horse Colin lived out his final years, dying there in 1932 at the age of 27.
Directorships
During the course of his career, Belmont was a director in the following businesses.
In 1881, Belmont married childhood sweetheart and next-door neighbor, Elizabeth Hamilton Morgan (1862–1898). They had three sons together, August III (1882–1919), Raymond II (1888–1934), and Morgan Belmont (1892–1953). Elizabeth died at age thirty-six while visiting Paris, France, in 1898. A widower for twelve years, on February 26, 1910, Belmont married actress Eleanor Robson.[12]
His widow, Eleanor, then sold most of the estate to a property developer. She outlived her husband by fifty-five years, dying just before her 100th birthday in 1979. The remaining 158 acres (0.64km2), including the family mansion, lake, and main farm buildings, were taken over by New York State. Under the control of planner Robert Moses, the estate was later expanded to 459 acres (1.86km2) and turned into Belmont Lake State Park. The mansion served as headquarters for the Long Island State Park Commission until 1935, when it was demolished to make way for the current building. Two lines of pine trees that formerly surrounded the mansion's driveway are preserved in the median of the Southern State Parkway.[13]
Related Research Articles
Citation was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eighth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win US$1 million.
Mr. Prospector was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, including the Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack and the Whirlaway Handicap at Garden State Park.
Whirlaway was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fifth winner of the American Triple Crown. He also won the Travers Stakes after his Triple Crown sweep to become the first and only horse to win all four races.
James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stockbroker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.
Swaps was a California bred American thoroughbred racehorse. He won the Kentucky Derby in 1955 and was named United States Horse of the Year in the following year. He was known as the "California Comet," and occasionally with affection, due to his wins despite numerous injuries and treatments, the "California Cripple."
Ogden Phipps was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Court Tennis Hall of Fame.
Needles was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1956, he became the first Florida-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby; that year he also won the Belmont Stakes.
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A major figure in thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami's Hialeah Park racetrack in Florida.
George Dunton Widener Jr. was an American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner; one of only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Gato Del Sol was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his win in the 1982 Kentucky Derby.
Raise a Native was an undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll and was the highest rated juvenile in the Experimental Free Handicap. He sired 74 stakes winners, including Majestic Prince and Alydar. In its 1988 obituary for the horse, The New York Times called him "the most influential sire of American Thoroughbred stallions over the last 20 years".
Empire Maker was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes and is the grandsire of the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
Johren (1915–1932) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United States. His most important win came in the 1918 Belmont Stakes.
Caveat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Chance Shot (1924–1952) was an American-bred thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Bred by August Belmont, Jr. at his nursery stud in Lexington, Kentucky, he was sired by the great Fair Play, which made him a half brother to Man o' War, out of the mare Quelle Chance who was bred at Belmont's Haras de Villers stud farm in Normandy, France. He was a full brother to stakes winner and 2-time leading sire Chance Play.
Hourless (1914–1935) was a British-born Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United States where he won the 1917 Belmont Stakes.
Hiram Eugene Leigh was an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer/owner and breeder who had a highly successful career in the United States as well as in Europe.
Harry Bassett (1868–1878) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1871 Belmont Stakes and an outstanding racehorse of the 19th century. He also won a number of other stakes races, and was named the Champion male of his age group in 1870, 1871 and 1872. He was retired to stud duties in New Jersey when his five-year racing career ended, having recorded 23 wins from 36 starts. Harry Bassett died in New Jersey in 1878 and was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 2010.
Joe Daniels (1869–1896) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion who won the sixth Belmont Stakes in 1872. Bred in Kentucky, Joe Daniels won two stakes races as a two-year-old and then the Belmont as a three-year-old when he also won a number of other stakes races, and some match races in California. As a four-year-old, he won one further stakes race before retiring with a record of 29 starts for 16 wins. He sired two stakes winning horses during his breeding career.
Fenian was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1869 Belmont Stakes. Bred by August Belmont, Fenian raced as a two-year-old, winning two races, placing second twice, and third once from five starts. As a three-year-old he only raced once, in the Belmont, which he won. He suffered from bad legs and some accounts state that he never raced again after the Belmont, although he appears to have raced later as a gelding, and eventually ended up in England where he did some steeplechase races. His likeness is atop the trophy for the Belmont Stakes.
References
↑ Clifton Hood, 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York (Simon & Schuster 1993), pp. 71–74
1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "August Belmont". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. He is a son of the late banker of the same name and was graduated from Harvard in 1875, immediately entering his father's banking-house, of which he is now the head — August Belmont & Co., American representatives of the Rothschilds. He is chairman of the board of directors of the Louisville and Nashville railway, and connected with various financial enterprises
1 2 3 "August Belmont". Time. December 12, 1924. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2008. As it must to all men, Death came to August Belmont, famed sportsman, financier, recognized as the leading turf man in the U. S. An inflammation in his right arm bred blood-poisoning. He died in his Manhattan home after an illness of 36 hours, was buried in the family plot at Newport, R.I. August Belmont was born in 1853. His father, August Belmont, a Prussian Jew, came to the U. S. in the diplomatic service, became a representative of the Rothschilds (European bankers), founded the banking house ...
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
