Benjamin Rathbun

{{Short description|American entrepreneur}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}

File:Benjamin Rathbun.jpg

Benjamin Rathbun (December 1, 1790 – July 20, 1873) was an American entrepreneur from Buffalo, New York. He was born in the area of Westford, Connecticut.{{cite book |last1=Falkowski |first1=Rick |title=Profiles Volume I: Historic and Influential People from Buffalo and WNY - the 1800s |date=2019 |publisher=Rick Falkowski |location=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library |isbn=9780578569239 |oclc = 1125007865|pages=190–194}} His family had settled in New York from Connecticut. Before entering real estate, his Eagle Tavern served those who were traveling between Buffalo and Albany. In the 19th century, he built out the city's central business district and many other areas of the city, totaling hundreds of buildings.{{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Mark |chapter=Ups and Downs During the Early Years of the Nineteenth Century |title=High hopes : the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |date=1983 |pages=21–55 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=9780873957342|oclc=9110713}} These included a fourteen-floor warehouse, dozens of low-rise buildings, a hotel, and nearly three dozen private dwellings. His investors were looking to capitalize on the explosive growth of Buffalo after the Erie Canal was finished.{{cite book |last1=Rundell |first1=Edwin F. |last2=Stein |first2=Charles W. |title=Buffalo: your city |chapter=Buffalo Becomes a Great City|pages=97–125 |date=1962 |publisher=Henry Stewart, Incorporated |edition=4th |oclc=3023258|location=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library}} Rathbun drew inspiration from Alexander Hamilton and implemented vertical integration into his business model. He began to operate a quarry, brickyards, and machine shops. He would also hire his own architects, shipping personnel, and other tradesmen to help see his projects to completion. By 1836, Rathbun's projects under construction had a collective value of $5.5 million (${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|5500000|1836}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}). His reputation led to him opening his own bank, with banknotes displaying his signature as "B. Rathbun". Rathbun's plans for more projects, including a Buffalo Exchange building, were halted prior to the Panic of 1837—he was later jailed for forged endorsements in 1836.{{cite book |last1=Balleisen |first1=Edward J. |author-link=Edward J. Balleisen|title=Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400883295 |pages=75–104 |chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2336231 |chapter-url-access=subscription |access-date=June 9, 2021 |chapter=Channels of Exposure|via=Project MUSE|oclc=1032354818}}{{cite journal |last1=Rezneck |first1=Samuel |title=The Social History of an American Depression, 1837-1843 |journal=The American Historical Review |date=July 1935 |volume=40 |issue=4 |page=664 |doi=10.2307/1842418 |jstor=1842418}} This crisis led to mass unemployment in the lodging, education and banking sectors, which relied on his company's fortunes to succeed.{{cite book |last1=Whitman |first1=Roger |title=The rise and fall of a frontier entrepreneur : Benjamin Rathbun, "Master Builder and Architect" |date=1996 |publisher=Syracuse University Press and Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |isbn=9780815603375|oclc=33405872 |edition=1st}} Rathbun died on July 20, 1873.{{cite web |title=Death of Benj'n Rathbun. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79635965/death-of-benjn-rathbun/ |website=The Buffalo Commercial |access-date=June 15, 2021 |pages=3 |date=July 22, 1873}}

File:Title Guarantee Building, Buffalo, New York - 20190920.jpg

The vast majority of Rathbun's buildings have been destroyed or demolished in the years since his period of activity.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Richard C. |last2=Watson |first2=Bob |title=Buffalo, Lake City in Niagara Land: An Illustrated History |date=1981 |publisher=Windsor Publications |location=Los Angeles |isbn=9780897810364 |url=https://buffaloah.com/h/rath/rath.html}} The sole exception is the Title Guarantee Building at the corner of Franklin and West Eagle Streets, which he built in 1833 as home of the First Unitarian Church, but was heavily altered by architect Franklin W. Caulkins upon its conversion to offices in the 1880s.{{cite web|title=First Unitarian Church / Title Guarantee Building|last=LaChiusa|first=Chuck|publisher=Buffalo as an Architectural Museum|accessdate=June 10, 2021|url=https://buffaloah.com/a/franklin/110/index.html}}