Edward R. Bacon

Edward Rathbone Bacon (born in Le Roy, New York, on November 22, 1848) was president of a railroad, lawyer and financier. His father was David Rinaldo Bacon and his mother was Elizabeth Rathbone. He had four siblings, Walter Rathbone, Lathrup Rufus, John Ganson, and Mary Sibley Bacon. Bacon never married or had children. Bacon served as the vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and as the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad. He also worked as a lawyer and financier. Bacon died on December 2, 1915, in Baltimore, Maryland, as a result of an appendicitis operation he had a week earlier.

Bacon's main residence was 247 5th Avenue, New York, where he lived with his brother Walter and his sister-in-law Virginia P. Bacon. Bacon worked out of an office at 2 Wall Street in New York. He traveled often to Europe, which is where he purchased many of the works that made up his extensive art collection. He was included in the list of notable people arriving from Europe to New York City in the New York Times on October 13, 1895.

Career Edward Bacon was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Bacon lived and worked in Buffalo for a time, where he "achieved success as a lawyer." In around 1881 he moved to New York City and became Vice-President of the Cincinnati, Washington, & Baltimore Railroad.

Art collection Edward Bacon owned an extensive collection of Old Master paintings and Chinese art objects. He was private about his collecting, and he "never consented to lend pictures from his collection for public exhibition." An article in American Art News published after Bacon's death stated that "It is passing strange that no journal, in the many obituaries of Edward R. Bacon that have been widely published as of late, has even alluded to him as an art collector, and yet he was well known to the art world as an art lover and collector of note."

Bacon began collecting about 25 years before his death. Bacon was generally interested in collecting works by the Old Masters and Chinese art objects. He was interested in "the quaint and loveable" and preferred "light and gay" pictures, and anything "full of vivacity." Getz also mentioned a "reliable agent abroad" who aided Bacon in discovering and purchasing these artworks. He could possibly be referring to Mr. Eugene Fischhof of Paris, who is known to have worked with Bacon.

Club memberships and society presence Edward R. Bacon, as pictured in the Railway Age Gazette obituary

Bacon was a member of many New York clubs, including the Manhattan Club, Union Club, the Metropolitan Art Museum, the Tuxedo Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the Racquet and Tennis Club. He was a member of the Academy of Political Science in New York in 1912. Bacon also held box 18 at the Metropolitan Opera on odd Mondays. He was a member of several automobile-centered clubs, such as the Automobile of America, and the Royal Automobile Club of England.

In addition, Bacon was a well-known man in both the United States and England. He was included in Who's Who in America in 1907, in Herringshaw's American Blue Book of Biography in 1914, and in Who's Who in New York City and State in 1914. In 1913 an article in the New York Times states that Edward Bacon could not attend a large charity ball in London, as he had "left the Ritz" and was "sailing for New York" after having recovered from an automobile accident.

Death and estate Bacon died at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland on December 2, 1915. His death was due to complications after an operation for appendicitis. He made bequests totaling around $1,000,000 to relatives and employees, and specified that the rest of the estate, including his collection of paintings, be shared equally between his brother Walter R. Bacon and his sister-in-law Virginia P. Bacon. Bequests included $400,000 to both his sister Mary B. Allen and his brother John G. Bacon, and his cousins and nieces each received $50,000 and $40,000, respectively. He also bequeathed varying sums to his cook, secretary, valet, footman, and maids.