Courtesy of the Greenwich Historical Society
The yacht Oneida at Indian Harbor in Greenwich, Connecticut.
give the North a crushing advantage over Robert E. Lee and his men,” said Wood.“ I would guess that my great grandfather, always a leader in technology, probably invested in Colt revolvers made in Connecticut.”
Benedict’ s firm was located at 24 New Street, where his partner from 1871-1875 was Roswell Flower, who later became governor of New York. The business was called Benedict, Flower & Company during this period. Then, in 1876, the Flower portion of the company name was removed, and the firm emerged with a new name( E. C. Benedict and Company), a new location( 18 New Street) and a new partner( Benedict’ s brother, Henry). Henry was president of the Gold Exchange Bank, which he and Corny organized following the gold speculation in 1873.
Benedict earned the bulk of his fortune as a handler of public utilities and gas stocks. He saw considerable success and was eventually reported to be worth $ 3 million. This may not sound like an enormous fortune today, but in the late 1800s it was amply sufficient to provide for his wife and four children, including as many servants as needed to attend them,
and plenty of champagne for entertaining numerous, notable guests.
According to Wood, Benedict had some significant business and investing successes, as well as his share of failures. For instance, he was president of Commercial Acetylene, a gas company, at a time when electricity was yet to be harnessed. It was an era when lamplighters walked the streets every night with their torches to light the gas lamps. Gas was a solid investment— indeed the only game in town— until electricity became commercially available at the turn of the century.
Later, Benedict was heavily involved in backing the invention of the naphtha marine engine using alcohol. All the vapor engines were doomed, however, and the long struggle to devise a practical internal combustion engine for maritime purposes ultimately ceased.
The Oneida
Benedict was highly entrepreneurial as a broker, and he took chances on new and untested ideas. Perhaps a primary reason for his financial success was his spirit for adventure. However, it should be noted that his adventurous spirit was not what drew him to yachting later in life. Rather, he pursued this activity on doctor’ s orders, as he needed a way to offset the stress of Wall Street.
“ I took up yachting because I had reached such a state that my physician said I would have to do something of that kind to save my life,” Benedict wrote. Characteristically, he took up yachting with exuberance. Other people might have started with a 40-foot ketch or a dignified schooner, but not Benedict. Instead, he acquired a 138-foot steam yacht that carried a crew of 18. He named his yacht Oneida, in honor of his former home town and his memorable race against the telegraph.
Aboard his yacht, Benedict not only commuted to Wall Street, but he also led sailing expeditions deep into the Amazon River to explore rubber plantations in regions that were largely uncharted at the time.
The Oneida enjoyed much attention from the press, likely for two reasons. Not only was she among the largest steam yachts of the 1890s, but she kept particularly distinguished company. The yacht’ s log book contained the signatures of such
32 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Spring 2016 | www. MoAF. org