Timothy Blackstone

Timothy Beach Blackstone (March 28, 1829 – May 26, 1900) was an American railroad executive, businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He is descended from William Blaxton, an early settler of New England. He worked in the railroad industry for most of his life after dropping out of school. At the time of his death, his estate was worth US$6 million ($ million today).

Blackstone served as president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864 through 1899, was a founding president of the Union Stock Yards, and served one term as mayor of La Salle, Illinois. He was the benefactor of the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, Connecticut, and his widow donated the Blackstone Memorial Library to the Chicago Public Library in 1902, the first dedicated branch of the Chicago Public Library system. The Blackstones also funded Blackstone Hall for the Art Institute of Chicago Building, and his mansion became the site of the Blackstone Hotel and the Blackstone Theatre.

Early life Blackstone was born in Branford, Connecticut, the sixth child, and fourth son, of James Blackstone and Sarah Beach. His father, James, served in the Connecticut Senate representing the sixth district. The family is descended from William Blaxton, an English settler who arrived in New England in the seventeenth century and became the first European settler in Rhode Island. William Blackstone, an English judge and jurist, is a distant cousin. Again, he only remained with the firm a short time before leaving for the Vermont Valley Railroad. In 1851, Roswell invited Blackstone to supervise construction of the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Dixon, Illinois. Although Blackstone served with the Alton Railroad for more than a quarter century, he refused a salary. When the directors voted to pay him $10,000 per year, he turned it down. In addition to his employment and activities with the railroads, Blackstone was the first president of the company that controlled the Union Stock Yards.

Although Blackstone had refused a salary from the railroad, he was an investor in it. In 1899, a competing group of investors headed by E. H. Harriman wanted to purchase the Alton Railroad but Blackstone disapproved of the sale. After many months of wrangling, Blackstone transferred all of his stock in the company to the United States Trust Company and resigned as president, effective April 1, 1899. This action allowed the Harriman-led group to assume control of the line.

In 1868, Blackstone married Isabella Farnsworth Norton, the daughter of a successful businessman from Norwich, Connecticut. Blackstone died of pneumonia on May 26, 1900, in Chicago, Illinois. His funeral was held at the Second Presbyterian Church and was then transported to Norwich, Connecticut for burial.

Bequests alt=a circular bronze plaque has a raised impression of the bust of a man who is facing to the left. The place is located on bronze railings. Blackstone donated a library of 5,000 books and a building to the city of Branford, Connecticut with the only stipulation that it be named in honor of his father. A charter was devised for the library by the Connecticut State Legislature vesting control of the library in a self-perpetuating board of trustees consisting of six residents of Branford and the librarian of Yale University. The building was designed by Chicago architect Solon Spencer Beman.

Also, the Blackstone's funded Blackstone Hall in the Art Institute of Chicago Building. The two-story ground level gallery was added next to the east wall of the original building for display of architectural and sculptural casts. Blackstone was also a close associate of his cousin, William Eugene Blackstone.