Isaac Rich
{{Short description|American Businessman and Philanthropist.}}
{{Infobox Person
| name = Isaac Rich
| image = Isaac Rich (1801-1872).png
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1801|10|24}}
| birth_place = Wellfleet, Massachusetts
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1872|01|13|1801|10|24}}
| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts
| spouse = {{Marriage|Sarah Rich|1822}}
}}
Isaac Rich (October 24, 1801 – January 13, 1872) was a prominent Boston merchant and philanthropist.
Biography
Born in Wellfleet, Massachusetts to a poor family his father died when he was young. At the age of 14 he went to Boston where he assisted his father selling fish.{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=James |last2=John |first2=Fisk |title=Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography |date=1888 |publisher=D Appleton and Company |location=New York, New York |page=237 |url=https://archive.org/details/AppletonsCyclopediaOfAmericanBiographyVol.5/page/n253/mode/2up |access-date=21 January 2024}} Upon his fathers death he opened an oyster stall at Faneuil Hall. He was given a loan by the proprietor of the Tremont Hotel allowing him to expand his seafood business into salmon. He purchased a number of fishing vessels and expanded his business considerably in the following decades.{{cite journal |title=The Late Isaac Rich |journal=Harper's Weekly |date=17 February 1872 |volume=16 |issue=790 |page=148 |access-date=21 January 2024 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-weekly_1872-02-17_16_790/page/148/mode/2up}}
Rich expanded into shipping, warehousing, the dry goods business, and banking. He made a considerable fortune and became a millionaire.{{cite web |title=Our Beginnings: Isaac Rich & the Founding of BU |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD1lfgvI-Yw |website=Youtube |publisher=Boston University |access-date=21 January 2024}} Rich died on January 13, 1872 after a period of illness lasting a few weeks.{{cite news |last1=Haven |first1=Gilbert |title=Isaac Rich Esq. |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_zions-herald_1872-01-18_49_3 |access-date=21 January 2024 |agency=Zion's Herold |issue=49 |publisher=Boston Wesleyan Association |date=January 18, 1872}} Rich was buried at the Mount Auburn Cemetery.{{cite web |title=Trustee Records |url=https://fromthepage.com/mountauburncemetery/mount-auburn-cemetery-trustee-minutes/1831-005-005/display/1135003?translation=false |website=From the Page |publisher=Mt. Auburn Cemetery |access-date=19 May 2024}}
Rich joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at a young age. He was an active member of the North Bennet Street congregation.{{cite news |title=Locals |url=https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/argus-1276 |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=5 |agency=Wesleyan College Argus |issue=9 |publisher=Wesleyan College |date=February 14, 1782 |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201094217/https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/argus-1276 |url-status=live }}
==Philanthropy==
Rich made significant contributions to charity. Of note was his donation of 10,000 dollars to Wesleyan University for the construction of a Rich Hall, originally a library but now the '92 theater. Rich additionally gave 100,000 dollars at the request of College Founder Wilbur Fisk{{cite book |last1=Prentice |first1=George |title=Wilbur Fisk |date=January 1, 1890 |publisher=houghton mifflin & Company |location=Cambridge Massachusetts |isbn=9781330474976 |page=171}} Rich left the majority of his estate, estimated to be worth 1.7 million dollars at the time, to Boston University. Rich Hall on the University's West Campus is named in his honor.{{cite journal |title=Isaac Rich |journal=Wesleyan College Argus |date=31 January 1872 |page=118 |url=https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/argus-1216 |access-date=21 January 2024 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022073900/https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/argus-1216 |url-status=live }}
{{cite web |last1=Helea |first1=C. Daryl |title=From the Great Boston Fire to the Depression to Coronavirus: A Short History of BU’s Biggest Campus Disruptions |url=https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/bu-history-biggest-campus-disruptions/ |website=BU Today |publisher=Boston University |access-date=21 January 2024 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615045636/https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/bu-history-biggest-campus-disruptions/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Price |first1=Carl |title=Wesleyan's First Century |date=January 1, 1932 |publisher=Wesleyan University |isbn=9781258279103 |pages=414}}
References
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Category:Businesspeople from Boston