Frederick Converse Beach

Frederick Converse Beach (March 27, 1848 – June 8, 1918), was a New York patent attorney, editor and co-owner of Scientific American, and editor-in-chief of the new Encyclopedia Americana in the early 1900s. He became President of the oldest operating yacht club in Connecticut. He was also the father of Stanley Yale Beach, an aviation pioneer and early financier of Gustav Whitehead.

Biography

Frederick Converse Beach was born on March 27, 1848, in Brooklyn, New York, to Alfred Ely Beach, builder of New York's first subway. His grandfather was Moses Yale Beach, publisher of the New York Sun, and his uncle was Moses Sperry Beach, publisher of the Boston Daily Times. His other uncle William Yale Beach was a banker and real estate developer, and his cousin Charles Yale Beach was a manufacturer and real estate investor. Frederick's son was Stanley Yale Beach, an aviation pioneer, and the Beaches were all members of the Yale family.

Frederick Converse Beach graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1868. In 1869, he was made night superintendent of the Beach Pneumatic Transit tunnel under Broadway, and then in 1870, operated a pneumatic car and explained its working to the public.

From 1871 to 1876, he was engaged in the manufacture of electrical instruments in New York, making telegraphs. He was made President of the Housatonic Yacht Club, the oldest operating Yacht club in Connecticut.

He died on June 8, 1918, at his home in Stratford, Connecticut.

Family legacy

Stanley Yale Beach, aviation pioneer, son of Frederick C. Beach

Frederick Converse Beach was the father of Alfred Gilbert, Ethel Holbrook, who married to caricaturist James Albert Wales, and Stanley Yale Beach, a wealthy aviation pioneer, partner of Gustave Whitehead.

He also served during the World War in the Ambulance Company, Field Hospital, and Medical Attachment, and was a Freemason of the American Legion and a member of the Housatonic Yacht Club. His father was Stanley Yale Beach.