Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Dillingham, Benjamin Franklin September 4, 1844 - April 7, 1918 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: J. Orr orr@hawaii.com August 31, 2009, 7:52 pm Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Published by Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ltd., Territory of Hawaii, 1925. Author: Edited by George F. Nellist BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DILLINGHAM, Railroad Builder of Hawaii. The story of the life of Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, founder of Hawaii’s land transportation systems and a foremost developer of its commercial greatness is, in large part, the story of modern Hawaii. It is a tale of the romance of business, interwoven with the early adventures of a roving sailor lad, forced by the circumstances of a broken leg to remain in Hawaii while his ship left without him. This seemingly unfortunate accident had most happy results, for Mr. Dillingham’s rise to an eminent position in Hawaii was startlingly rapid. His early life was as colorful and exciting as his later years were filled with the thrills of big, creative business. He was born in West Brewster, Mass., on Sept. 4, 1844, of old Puritan stock. His parents were Benjamin Clark Dillingham, shipmaster, and Lydia Sears (Hows) Dillingham. The boy received his education in the public schools of Southboro and Worcester. His imagination fired by romantic sea tales, he left school at 14 and shipped on his uncle’s vessel for a voyage around the Horn to San Francisco. In 1863 the “Southern Cross,” on which young Dillingham was an officer, was captured by the “Alabama,” famous raider of the Confederate States in the Civil War. The ship was burned and the crew, Dillingham among them, was landed in Brazil. After many hardships and adventures, Dillingham reached New York, landing there with the clothes he wore as his sole worldly possession, an incident he was fond of recalling in after years when he visited that city at the height of his success. The sea still claimed Mr. Dillingham’s loyalty and, when not yet 21, he first started for Hawaii as first officer of the bark “Whistler,” a fateful voyage, both for himself and for Hawaii. Ashore at Honolulu, the young Yankee sailor went horseback riding; his mount threw him and his leg was fractured. The “Whistler” proceeded on its return voyage to the coast without First Officer Dillingham, who remained behind in a hospital. That was in 1865, and for more than 50 years thereafter, Mr. Dillingham was a big figure in the industrial and commercial history of Hawaii. Recovering from his injury after a long stay in the hospital, during which he was befriended by the Rev. Lowell Smith, one of the early missionaries to Hawaii, and whose daughter, Emma Louise Smith, later became Mrs. Dillingham, Mr. Dillingham entered the employ of Henry Dimond, hardware dealer, as a clerk on six months’ trial at $40 a month. By 1869 Mr. Dillingham had established what was his greatest asset throughout life, a reputation for business ability and integrity, and with Alfred Castle, son of S. N. Castle of Castle & Cooke, he purchased Henry Dimond’s business for $28,000, the elder Castle financing the young men. The firm name was Dillingham & Co., and the partnership continued for five years, until the death of Alfred Castle. Mr. Dillingham continued the business as its sole manager and shared the profits with his late partner’s widow and family. In 1884 the firm was incorporated as the Pacific Hardware Co., and in 1889 Mr. Dillingham retired from it to give all his time to his great venture, the linking of Honolulu with its back country by means of a railroad. From this time on his career was one of spectacular achievement in the upbuilding of Hawaii. Four years previously, he had proposed his railway project, but met with great opposition, critics calling his plan “Dillingham’s Folly.” His determination to proceed was only strengthened. Part of his great project called for the acquisition of 60,000 acres of land on Oahu and their colonization with Portuguese labor for the development of agriculture. The lands were then used only for cattle ranges, with a small portion in rice and bananas, but Mr. Dillingham lived to prove his contention that they would grow sugar. Back of his railroad project was his great vision of thousands of acres of sugar cane waving on fields then unproductive, and which would furnish tonnage for the line. He evolved the theory that the unproductive lowlands of Hawaii could be profitably cultivated if irrigated by well water, raised to the necessary levels by pumps. He supported his theory with reports from the most eminent hydraulic engineers of America and Europe and at last convinced capitalists that his plan was feasible. That it was, has been amply demonstrated by the results, for the plantations irrigated by pumped water are today the most prosperous in the Territory. Concurrently with his promotion of the railroad, Mr. Dillingham initiated the establishment of Ewa plantation, now one of the greatest sugar producers in the world. At about the same time he promoted Kahuku plantation. With his dream of a plantation at Ewa becoming a reality, Mr. Dillingham in 1888 obtained from the Hawaiian Legislature a franchise to build a railroad on Oahu and, aided financially by S. N. Castle, known and loved as “Father” Castle, Mark P. Robinson and other early capitalists of Honolulu, he built the railroad, undismayed by political unrest and the lack of faith of his fellow townsmen. On Sept. 4, 1889, Mr. Dillingham’s forty-fifth birthday, the first train to run out of Honolulu took an excursion party one-half mile into the Palama rice fields. “Dillingham’s Folly” had now become the greatest single factor in the development of Oahu and Honolulu. With the railroad well under way, and realizing the necessity of developing more freight for it, Mr. Dillingham proceeded with the organization of Oahu plantation and, a little later, Honolulu plantation, which was financed in California. The Oahu Railway & Land Co., meantime, had been extended, reaching Waianae in 1895 and, with Waialua plantation enormously expanded under Mr. Dillingham’s driving leadership, the railroad eventually was extended there and on to Kahuku. Today the railroad operates 160 miles through the productive sugar and pineapple plantations of Oahu, connecting them with the port from which their crops are shipped. As a result of the evident success of the plantations on Oahu, Mr. Dillingham was induced to extend his operations to the islands of Kauai, Maui and Hawaii, promoting McBryde Sugar Co., Kihei Plantation Co., Ltd., Puna Sugar Co., Ltd., and Olaa Sugar Co., Ltd. He also built on Hawaii what is now known as the Hawaii Consolidated Railway. No other individual had a larger share in the great development work which has made Hawaii what it is today than B. F. Dillingham, but his road to eventual success and fortune was not an easy one. His vision was so broad, his foresight so keen and his undertakings so ambitious and enormously greater than had theretofore been conceived, that for years he was obliged to struggle constantly for additional capital with which to carry on his enterprises. Before his companies were developed to the point of making a return on the large investment, Mr. Dillingham’s financial obligations, in 1903, had reached a total greater than the public debt of the Republic of Hawaii at the time of annexation. In 1904, heavily burdened with debt and care, and just before the great success of his many enterprises had become apparent to everyone, Mr. Dillingham’s health failed, and a large share of his responsibilities were assumed by his elder son, Walter F. Dillingham, who took over financial direction of the Dillingham projects. But even then the tide was turning and Mr. Dillingham lived for many years to enjoy the full realization of his dreams, his faith in Hawaii justified and his financial problems solved. With a deep sense of gratitude, he gave a large part of his private fortune to deserving charities. Mr. Dillingham continued as president and general manager of the Oahu Railway & Land Co. until 1915, when he resigned the general managership, retaining the presidency, however, until his death. Mr. Dillingham married Emma Louise Smith, daughter of the Rev. Lowell Smith, his early benefactor, in Honolulu in 1869. Their children are Walter F. Dillingham, Harold G. Dillingham, Mrs. Walter F. Frear and Mrs. John P. Erdman. Mr. Dillingham was a member of the Pacific and Oahu Country Clubs, and a Mason, Shriner and Odd Fellow. He died in Honolulu, April 7, 1918. 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