Charles Tyson Yerkes ( Eng. Charles Tyson Yerkes ; June 25, 1837 , Philadelphia , PA - December 29 , 1905 , New York ) is an American financier who played a significant role in the development of public transport in Chicago and London . The story of his life formed the basis of the “ Trilogy of Desire ” by the writer Theodore Dreiser (novels “ Financier ”, “ Titan ”, “ Stoic ”).
| Charles Tyson Yerkes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date of Birth | June 25, 1837 |
| Place of Birth | Philadelphia , PA |
| Date of death | December 29, 1905 (68 years old) |
| Place of death | New York , USA |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Occupation | financier |
Content
Philadelphia
Charles Tyson Yerkes was born on June 25, 1837 in the Northern Liberties , an area located near Philadelphia . His mother died of a maternal fever when he was 6 years old and shortly afterwards, his father was expelled from the Society of Friends for his marriage to a non-Quaker woman (one of the Quakers self-names). After completing a two-year course at Philadelphia Central High School, when he was 17 years old, Yerks began his career as a businessman as a clerk at a local bakery. Already at 22 years old (in 1859), Yerks opened his brokerage firm and joined the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. By 1865, he had advanced in banking and specialized in the sale of debt securities of the city, state, as well as the sale of government bonds. Thanks to the connections of his father (the chairman of the bank), political relations, and his own successes in the financial field, Yerks gained a name in the local society and the financial world. He was already close to entering Philadelphia high society when disaster struck.
When Yerks served as the financial agent of Joseph Marcer, treasurer of the city of Philadelphia, he risked public money in huge stock speculation. Unfortunately for Yerkes, these speculations ended in his collapse when the Great Chicago Fire (October 10, 1871) caused panic on the stock exchange. Having become bankrupt and unable to pay the city debt, Yerks was convicted of theft and sentenced to 33 months in the Eastern State Penitentiary , which is notorious for its solitary confinement system. To get out of prison, he tried to blackmail two influential pensioner politicians, but the plan failed. Nonetheless, the information compromising the politicians was ultimately made public and the political leaders were frightened by this, which made failure in the upcoming elections possible. Yerks was promised pardon if he denied the allegations he had made. He agreed and was released after serving seven months in prison. The next 10 years of his life, Yerks spent to re-make a fortune.
Chicago
In 1881, Yerks went to Fargo ( Dakota ) to get a divorce from his wife, with whom he lived for 22 years. A year later, he married twenty-four-year-old Mary Adelaide Moore and moved to Chicago .
He opened a brokerage and a bread-commission office, but was soon involved in matters related to the city public transport system. In 1886, Yerks and his partners, using a series of financial transactions, captured the Northern Chicago City Railroad. And then he continued the gradual seizure of railways street by street, and after some time he already controlled most of the city public transport in the northern and western parts of the city. However, he never reached his ultimate goal - the monopoly in Chicago's public transport: the South Chicago Railway has always remained beyond its control. Yerkes never disdained the use of bribes or bribery to achieve his goals.
In an attempt to improve his poor public image, Yerkes decided in 1892 to finance the construction of the world's largest telescope, lobbied by astronomer George Hale and President of the University of Chicago William Harper. Initially, he intended to finance only the construction of a telescope, but unexpectedly agreed to provide funds for the construction of the entire observatory. He funded about 300 thousand dollars, which went to the foundation of the observatory, which later became known as Yerkes ( Williams Bay , Wisconsin , USA ).
In 1895, Yerks began a campaign to extend concessions to tram lines. He offered Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld a huge bribe for his support, but Altgeld refused the bribe and vetoed a project to extend concessions. Yerkes resumed his campaign in 1897, and after a bitter confrontation, he secured a law from the Illinois legislature giving city councils the right to grant long-term concessions. The so-called “war for concessions” has moved to the Chicago City Council - the arena in which Yerks usually won. However, the partially reformed city council, headed by Mayor Carter Harrson Jr., defeated Yerkes, refusing to renew the concessions.
In 1899, Yerks sold most of his shares in Chicago transport companies and moved to New York .
London
In August 1900, Yerks decided to take part in the development of the underground railway system in London - the London Underground . He gained control of the District line and the still unfinished Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , Charing Cross , Euston and Hampstead Railway, and Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway . Yerks used a set of financial schemes similar to those he used in America to attract the funding needed to build new lines and electrify the District line. One of Yerks's recent successes was that he managed to thwart J.P. Morgan's attempt to enter the London Underground business.
Yerks died in 1905 at the age of 68 in New York from kidney disease. At this point, none of his projects in London had yet been completed (however, construction was already in full swing). From Yerks’s initial estimated fortune of $ 22 million, only less than $ 1 million was left after his death due to the huge amount of debt.
Memory
- In 1935, the International Astronomical Union named Charles Yerks a crater on the visible side of the moon .