| Notes |
- History Genealogical and Biographical of the
Bassett and Allied Families (1919)
Henry Carlton Hulbert
Henry Carlton Hulbert, only son of Amos Geer and Cynthia (Bassett)
Hulbert, was born in Lee, Massachusetts, December 19, 1831, died April 24,
1912.
He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and
completed his studies at Lee Academy, Lee, Massachusetts. Of a strong
individuality and pronounced principles, he was a leader among his comrades,
and at an age when most youths are enjoying school and pleasures he sought the
business world, at sixteen years becoming a clerk in the store of Willi
Taylor. A short time afterward he was offered a position in the dry goo
house of Plunkett & Hulbert, of Pittsfield, and upon submitting the matter to
his parents he was told that thereafter "self reliance must be his capital."
His faith in his ability to succeed was justified by his rise, within three
years, from errand boy to the cashiership. His ambition demanded wider fields
of effort and he determined to try his fortunes in the metropolis of New York.
He was cautioned by his father, with whom he consulted, that not more than ten
in one hundred were able to wrest success from the city, and his reply was "I
propose to be one of the ten."
In February, 1851, at the age of nineteen, Mr. Hulbert went to New
York, with letters of recommendation to several firms, among them Cyrus W.
Field & Company and Wite & Sheffield. Mr. Field was an old acquaintance of his
father, and received the young man cordially, informing him that he had no
position open at the time, but that he might use the firm's name as a city
reference. He then presented his letters to White & Sheffield, importers of
and extensive dealers in paper manufactures. The firm were very favorab
impressed with the young man and his conduct during the interview, and Mr.
Sheffield asked him what he proposed to do. His prompt reply was
characteristic, and decided the interview in his favor: "If you gi
position, I propose to make myself so useful that you will give me an
interest in your business." History shows how his word was kept. His salary
for the first year was $400. His previous training had been thorough and
exacting, and he had been submitted to the severest discipline as errand boy,
salesman, bookkeeper, and cashier, all of which was excellent equipment for
his new work. He was always on the alert, and near the close of the year an
opportunity presented of which he was quick to avail himself. It was the
firm's custom to send account sales at the close of each quarter to the
manufacturing concerns they represented, but the illness of the bookkeeper and
cashier whose duty this was, made it apparently impossible that quarter. At
this juncture young Hulbert offered to fill the place of the absent employee
until he should be able to resume his duties, stating that he had been trained
in similar work, and, being entrusted with the mission, he fulfilled it in the
most efficient manner. This incident did much to impress the heads of t
business with his usefulness, versatility, and willingness. Shortly afterward,
another event strengthened this impression materially. There was an
unfortunate rupture between the firms of White & Sheffield and Cyrus W. Field
& Company, in which their relations became so strained that the letters of the
former firm were returned unanswered. The matter was placed in the hands of
Mr. Hulbert and he was given full powers in its settlement, which was effected
in an amicable and satisfactory manner through his wise discretion and
diplomacy.
In the great panic of 1867, Mr. Hulbert was sent on a western trip for
the purpose of settling old and, at his discretion, opening new accounts. His
experience in the main office had familiarized him with the financial
conditions of the trade, knowledge he used so advantageously that full
collection followed every sale he made. He had fulfilled his promise made to
the firm at the time he entered their employ, and in less than four years he
was given an interest in the profits in lieu of salary. One year later, at the
age of twenty-four years, he was admitted to full partnership and the firm
name changed to J.B. Sheffield & Company. On the expiration of the articles of
partnership, January 1, 1858, Mr. Hulbert was offered fifty per cent, advance
on his interest to remain, but declined. Forming an association with Milan
Hulbert, of Boston, a cousin, under the firm name of H.C. & M. Hulbert (with
Otis Daniell, of Boston, as special partner for $30,000) he at once started
independent operations as an importer and dealer in paper makers' supplies, on
a capital of forty thousand dollars. After completing the organization of the
business, Mr. Hulbert sailed for Europe, where he secured a number of valuable
exclusive agencies, some of which have been retained by his successors. Upon
his return in 1858, the firm opened offices at No. 83 John Street, entering
upon a career successful and profitable from the outset. Until the time of Mr.
Hulbert's retirement the firm had only one reorganization, although there were
several changes in the personnel. In 1862 special partner Otis Daniell sold
his interest to the general partners, without security, giving them thr
years in which to make payment. In 1872, general partner Milan Hulbert
withdrew, when the firm was reorganized as H.C. Hulbert & Company, Mr. Hulbert
admitting as partners Joseph H. Sutphin and George P. Hulbert, both of whom
had served a thorough apprenticeship in the business as clerks in the
establishment. Mr. George P. Hulbert died in the autumn of the same year, and
in 1890, Charles F. Bassett, who had grown up in the business from a boy, was
admitted as a partner, and the business continued under the same firm name
until May 1, 1900, when H.C. Hulbert retired and Bassett and Sutphin became
his successors.
While controlling the principal interests of his own firm, Mr.
Hulbert's business ability and influence have been sought in other directions.
He was from 1881 to January, 1900, (when the Pullman Company purchased the
assets of the Wagner Company, and when J.P. Morgan, W.K. Vanderbilt, and other
Wagner directors were added to the Pullman Company board) the only New York
director of the Pullman Palace Car Company, of Chicago, Illinois, and at Mr.
Pullman's death, Robert Lincoln, Marshall Field and Mr. Hulbert constituted
the executive committee of the company. Mr. Hulbert was also trustee and member
of the finance committee of the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, and
also of the Celluloid Company. He was one of the trustees and first vice-
president of the South Brooklyn Savings Institution, and for more than thirty
years was a director of the Importers' and Traders' National Bank of New York,
also of the United States Life Insurance Company, and one of the trustees of
the Franklin Trust Company, of Brooklyn. He was a member of the New York
Chamber of Commerce, life member of both the New York and Brooklyn New England
Societies, member of the Society of the Colonial Wars, and a member and
chairman of the executive committee of the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children. He was for many years a member of the South
Congregational Church of Brooklyn, a trustee of the society and superintendent
of the Sabbath school. Upon the call of his cousin, Rev. Edward P. Ingersoll,
to the pastorate of the Middle Reformed Church of Brooklyn, he changed his
affiliation to that church, later becoming superintendent of the Sabbath
school. With the call of Dr. Ingersoll to the Puritan Church in 1882, M
Hulbert united with Christ Church, on Clinton Street, where he was a member of
the vestry until his death.
Henry Carlton Hulbert married (first) in September, 1854, Susan R.
Cooley, step-daughter of William Porter, a prominent lawyer of Lee,
Massachusetts. For seven years Mrs. Hulbert was an invalid, but, regaining her
health, was active in benevolent work, and for many years treasurer of the
Brooklyn Industrial School and Home for Destitute Children. She died August
22, 1882. Mr. Hulbert married (second) on October 16, 1884, Fannie Dwig
Bigelow, daughter of Asa Bigelow, Jr., of Brooklyn. Children of Henry Carlton
Hulbert: 1. Susie Cooley, married, in 1879, Joseph H. Sutphin 2. Carolyn
Beardsley, married in 1893, Charles Franklin Bassett.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1831 - Deceased