Thomas E. Brittingham Madison's Richest Citizen 1905
Barbara and I were discussing the Brittingham's of Madison Wisconsin on Thanksgiving day. Barbara asked me "how they made their money?' to which I Googled and found the following info. I would like to visit Madison today as one of the poor Brittingham's of Missouri.
Thomas Evans Brittingham was born to Dr. Irvin Baird and Mary J. League Brittingham on May 18, 1860 in Hannibal, Missouri. Though photographs of his birthplace seem to imply the proverbial humble beginnings, both his father and grandfather were doctors. Thomas attended private school before matriculating at Hannibal College, which is no longer in existence.
After brief stays in Colorado and California, Thomas relocated to Wisconsin in 1885, where he eventually founded the Brittingham and Hixon Lumber Company with Joseph Morris Hixon. Joseph was the son of Gideon C. Hixon of La Crosse, who controlled a sizeable commercial empire. Thomas served as the company's president, guiding its expansion into a chain of twenty-four lumber yards in several states.
Brittingham Fund linked to WARF
Milwaukee Sentinel, Mar 6, 1995
Link
In the early 1930s, Karl Paul Link, a young University of Wisconsin Madison biochemist whose anticoagulant patents would eventually become some of WARF's biggest earners, was considering a job offer in California.
Link didn't take it because the Brittingham Fund anted up enough money for a special five-year professorship for him.
For 72 years, the Brittingham Fund has offered annual support that often pays big dividends.
"Our philosophy is to try to be very helpful to the university and fill in gaps where they can't get money through federally or state-funded projects," said Baird C. Brittingham, a trustee of the fund and president of Brittingham Inc. in Wilmington, Del., which manages the fund's investment portfolio.
Brittingham's grandfather, lumber baron Thomas E. Brittingham Sr., established the fund with a $240,000 bequest in 1923. His father, Thomas E. Brittingham Jr., was one of the nine original founders of WARF.
Tom Brittingham Jr. made his mark in the investment community by investing in high risk, growth stocks during a time when most money managers bought blue chips and bonds. According to newspaper articles from 1957, he astonished the financial world with the news that WARF which he was president of had made $29 million in the stock market during a 30-year period.
Baird Brittingham declined to discuss the size of the Brittingham Fund's assets or its investment returns.
But proceeds to UW Madison have amounted to between $150,000 and $160,000 during the past 10 years, and have gotten as high as $250,000, said Arthur O. Hove, special assistant to the provost at UW Madison and a Brittingham Fund trustee. He believes the fund's impact far exceeds the dollar amount it gives each year.
"To the best of my knowledge, it's the only privately managed trust the university accepts the proceeds from," Hove said.
The fund mostly supports programs that can't get funded through other sources, Hove said. "There's been so much in so many different areas over the years," Brittingham said.
Money from the Brittingham Fund contributed to an artists- in-residence program during the 1930s and a scholarship for Scandinavian students called the Vikings Program during the 1950s. The fund also helped pay for construction of the Elvehjem Museum of Art and development of the Eagle Heights married student housing complex.
And it provided $100,000 for UW Madison's nationally- recognized Securities Analysis Program. Students in the 25- year-old program have gained hands-on investment training while growing the original seed money to $500,000, Brittingham said.
"When you look at what people have been able to do in a very quiet way, it's just amazing," Hove said.
KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
Copyright 1995Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORY:
The Lake Monona shoreline that now makes up Brittingham Park was once so neglected that a speaker at the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (MPPDA) annual meeting in 1904 called it a “disease breeding hole.” It was weedy, littered with kitchen garbage and dead fish, and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. He pointed out that ninety percent of the travelers to Madison saw this bay as they either entered or left the city by rail. He proposed the development of a park on Monona Bay.1
The city had begun acquiring a small area of Monona Bay in 1903, but was not ready to develop a large park there. In 1905, Thomas E. Brittingham, reputedly Madison’s richest citizen, stepped in with an $8000 donation to the MPPDA for the acquisition of a 27-acre park. Brittingham had made a fortune in the lumber industry. Besides Brittingham Park, his donations helped create other Madison landmarks, including Neighborhood House on South Mills Street, Madison General Hospital (now Meriter), and the statue of Abraham Lincoln on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Bascom Hill. He was a Regent of the University of Wisconsin, and after his death, his house (now known as Brittingham House) was donated to the University. It is the official home of the University of Wisconsin System President. Brittingham’s contributions for the Brittingham Park area continued through 1908 and totaled $24,500.2
The major work involved in creating Brittingham Park was dredging sand from Lake Monona to fill in marshland. The sand base was covered with topsoil and trees and grass were planted. For example, in 1908, the MPPDA planted 17,463 trees and shrubs in Brittingham Park.3
Part of Brittingham’s contribution was $7500 for a bath house. However, to get this money, the city would have to provide $5000 for a boathouse. The bath house was extremely popular, with a total attendance of 50,000 during the 1910 season. The bath house provided bathing suits, and it was said that the over 300 suits available did not have time to dry off at all during the season. There was a line waiting to take the wet suits as soon as the wearers came out of the water.4 The bath house was eventually torn down. The boathouse, attributed to the architects Ferry & Clas, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1904.
David V. Mollenhoff, Madison: A History of the Formative Years. Dubuque, Iowa : Kendall/Hunt, 1982, pp. 327-331.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1909.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1911.
ABOUT BRITTINGHAM PARK:
With its rocky shoreline hugging the banks of the Lake Monona Bay, Brittingham Park offers beautiful scenery to the central Madison area. Its shoreline bicycle path presents park goers with the opportunity for a leisurely ride though the lengthy park, while the waterfront benches and picnic tables beckon for them to rest. Additionally, shoreline fishing has become a popular attraction amongst park patrons, luring people of all ages to enjoy the beauty found within the park. Furthermore, Brittingham Park comes complete with grills, play equipment, tennis courts, volleyball courts, a reservable shelter, a historic boathouse, and bathroom facilities. Even with of all of these amenities, this park still offers more than enough lush green grass for a game of football or frisbee, yet plenty of shade for the casual bookworm.
FEATURES:
23 acres, scenic shoreline on Monona Bay
Alcohol is not allowed in this park
Shoreline fishing
One full basketball court
Bicycle Path through Park - links to Isthmus Bike Path
Fenced in dog park exercise area
Parking lot
Large reservable shelter
Play equipment
Fireplace/Grills - 2
Tennis courts - 4
Volleyball courts, 2006 under construction
Historic Boathouse
Beach - no lifeguard on duty
Madison Metro Routes 5, 6, 8
Recycling: Madison Parks Department encourages recycling away from home. In the parks, please take home the recyclable material you bring to the park.
LAND MANAGEMENTDue to recommendations from the DNR, the Parks Division is not mowing the turf up to the Monona Bay shoreline. This will encourage deep-rooted plants to establish growth in this area, thus protecting the shoreline. The tall grass also discourages the ducks and geese from remaining in this park. These waterfowl tend to walk into the water.
BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORYThe Lake Monona shoreline that now makes up Brittingham Park was once so neglected that a speaker at the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (MPPDA) annual meeting in 1904 called it a "disease breeding hole." CLICK HERE FOR MORE BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORY
Note: longer grass, no geese.
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Thomas Evans Brittingham was born to Dr. Irvin Baird and Mary J. League Brittingham on May 18, 1860 in Hannibal, Missouri. Though photographs of his birthplace seem to imply the proverbial humble beginnings, both his father and grandfather were doctors. Thomas attended private school before matriculating at Hannibal College, which is no longer in existence.
After brief stays in Colorado and California, Thomas relocated to Wisconsin in 1885, where he eventually founded the Brittingham and Hixon Lumber Company with Joseph Morris Hixon. Joseph was the son of Gideon C. Hixon of La Crosse, who controlled a sizeable commercial empire. Thomas served as the company's president, guiding its expansion into a chain of twenty-four lumber yards in several states.
Brittingham Fund linked to WARF
Milwaukee Sentinel, Mar 6, 1995
Link
In the early 1930s, Karl Paul Link, a young University of Wisconsin Madison biochemist whose anticoagulant patents would eventually become some of WARF's biggest earners, was considering a job offer in California.
Link didn't take it because the Brittingham Fund anted up enough money for a special five-year professorship for him.
For 72 years, the Brittingham Fund has offered annual support that often pays big dividends.
"Our philosophy is to try to be very helpful to the university and fill in gaps where they can't get money through federally or state-funded projects," said Baird C. Brittingham, a trustee of the fund and president of Brittingham Inc. in Wilmington, Del., which manages the fund's investment portfolio.
Brittingham's grandfather, lumber baron Thomas E. Brittingham Sr., established the fund with a $240,000 bequest in 1923. His father, Thomas E. Brittingham Jr., was one of the nine original founders of WARF.
Tom Brittingham Jr. made his mark in the investment community by investing in high risk, growth stocks during a time when most money managers bought blue chips and bonds. According to newspaper articles from 1957, he astonished the financial world with the news that WARF which he was president of had made $29 million in the stock market during a 30-year period.
Baird Brittingham declined to discuss the size of the Brittingham Fund's assets or its investment returns.
But proceeds to UW Madison have amounted to between $150,000 and $160,000 during the past 10 years, and have gotten as high as $250,000, said Arthur O. Hove, special assistant to the provost at UW Madison and a Brittingham Fund trustee. He believes the fund's impact far exceeds the dollar amount it gives each year.
"To the best of my knowledge, it's the only privately managed trust the university accepts the proceeds from," Hove said.
The fund mostly supports programs that can't get funded through other sources, Hove said. "There's been so much in so many different areas over the years," Brittingham said.
Money from the Brittingham Fund contributed to an artists- in-residence program during the 1930s and a scholarship for Scandinavian students called the Vikings Program during the 1950s. The fund also helped pay for construction of the Elvehjem Museum of Art and development of the Eagle Heights married student housing complex.
And it provided $100,000 for UW Madison's nationally- recognized Securities Analysis Program. Students in the 25- year-old program have gained hands-on investment training while growing the original seed money to $500,000, Brittingham said.
"When you look at what people have been able to do in a very quiet way, it's just amazing," Hove said.
KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
Copyright 1995Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORY:
The Lake Monona shoreline that now makes up Brittingham Park was once so neglected that a speaker at the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (MPPDA) annual meeting in 1904 called it a “disease breeding hole.” It was weedy, littered with kitchen garbage and dead fish, and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. He pointed out that ninety percent of the travelers to Madison saw this bay as they either entered or left the city by rail. He proposed the development of a park on Monona Bay.1
The city had begun acquiring a small area of Monona Bay in 1903, but was not ready to develop a large park there. In 1905, Thomas E. Brittingham, reputedly Madison’s richest citizen, stepped in with an $8000 donation to the MPPDA for the acquisition of a 27-acre park. Brittingham had made a fortune in the lumber industry. Besides Brittingham Park, his donations helped create other Madison landmarks, including Neighborhood House on South Mills Street, Madison General Hospital (now Meriter), and the statue of Abraham Lincoln on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Bascom Hill. He was a Regent of the University of Wisconsin, and after his death, his house (now known as Brittingham House) was donated to the University. It is the official home of the University of Wisconsin System President. Brittingham’s contributions for the Brittingham Park area continued through 1908 and totaled $24,500.2
The major work involved in creating Brittingham Park was dredging sand from Lake Monona to fill in marshland. The sand base was covered with topsoil and trees and grass were planted. For example, in 1908, the MPPDA planted 17,463 trees and shrubs in Brittingham Park.3
Part of Brittingham’s contribution was $7500 for a bath house. However, to get this money, the city would have to provide $5000 for a boathouse. The bath house was extremely popular, with a total attendance of 50,000 during the 1910 season. The bath house provided bathing suits, and it was said that the over 300 suits available did not have time to dry off at all during the season. There was a line waiting to take the wet suits as soon as the wearers came out of the water.4 The bath house was eventually torn down. The boathouse, attributed to the architects Ferry & Clas, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1904.
David V. Mollenhoff, Madison: A History of the Formative Years. Dubuque, Iowa : Kendall/Hunt, 1982, pp. 327-331.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1909.
Annual Report of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1911.
ABOUT BRITTINGHAM PARK:
With its rocky shoreline hugging the banks of the Lake Monona Bay, Brittingham Park offers beautiful scenery to the central Madison area. Its shoreline bicycle path presents park goers with the opportunity for a leisurely ride though the lengthy park, while the waterfront benches and picnic tables beckon for them to rest. Additionally, shoreline fishing has become a popular attraction amongst park patrons, luring people of all ages to enjoy the beauty found within the park. Furthermore, Brittingham Park comes complete with grills, play equipment, tennis courts, volleyball courts, a reservable shelter, a historic boathouse, and bathroom facilities. Even with of all of these amenities, this park still offers more than enough lush green grass for a game of football or frisbee, yet plenty of shade for the casual bookworm.
FEATURES:
23 acres, scenic shoreline on Monona Bay
Alcohol is not allowed in this park
Shoreline fishing
One full basketball court
Bicycle Path through Park - links to Isthmus Bike Path
Fenced in dog park exercise area
Parking lot
Large reservable shelter
Play equipment
Fireplace/Grills - 2
Tennis courts - 4
Volleyball courts, 2006 under construction
Historic Boathouse
Beach - no lifeguard on duty
Madison Metro Routes 5, 6, 8
Recycling: Madison Parks Department encourages recycling away from home. In the parks, please take home the recyclable material you bring to the park.
LAND MANAGEMENTDue to recommendations from the DNR, the Parks Division is not mowing the turf up to the Monona Bay shoreline. This will encourage deep-rooted plants to establish growth in this area, thus protecting the shoreline. The tall grass also discourages the ducks and geese from remaining in this park. These waterfowl tend to walk into the water.
BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORYThe Lake Monona shoreline that now makes up Brittingham Park was once so neglected that a speaker at the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (MPPDA) annual meeting in 1904 called it a "disease breeding hole." CLICK HERE FOR MORE BRITTINGHAM PARK HISTORY
Note: longer grass, no geese.
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