Frederick H. Billings (September 27, 1823 – September 30, 1890) was an American lawyer, financier, and politician. He is known for his legal work on land claims during the early years of California's statehood and his presidency of the Northern Pacific Railway from 1879 to 1881.
A native of Royalton, Vermont, Billings graduated from the University of Vermont in 1844, became an attorney, and moved to California during the 1848 California Gold Rush. He took part in the creation of a prominent law firm that handled land title cases, which were an important issue because California had been under the jurisdiction of several governments. Billings also took part in several business ventures that proved successful, and became a millionaire by the age of 30. At the start of the American Civil War, he worked diligently to keep California from seceding.
After returning to Vermont in the mid 1860s, Billings continued to practice law and take part in business ventures. He served on the boards of directors of several corporations, and was a major investor in the Northern Pacific Railway. Billings received credit for rescuing the NP after the Panic of 1873, and served as its president from 1879 to 1881. He resigned the presidency after a hostile takeover, but remained on the board of directors and saw construction of the railroad through to completion in 1883.
Billings took part in politics as a Republican. He was a candidate for governor of Vermont in 1872, and nearly won the party's nomination. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1880 and 1884, where he supported George F. Edmunds for president. Billings donated millions of dollars to numerous causes and organizations, including schools, colleges, libraries, and churches.
After suffering a stroke in 1889, Billings' health deteriorated, and he died at his Woodstock, Vermont home on September 23, 1890. His body was buried at River Street Cemetery in Woodstock.
Early life
Billings was born in Royalton, Vermont on September 27, 1823, to Oel Billings and Sarah (Wetherbe) Billings. When he was 12, his family relocated to Woodstock, and Billings attended the schools of Royalton and Woodstock. In June 1890, UVM awarded Billings the honorary degree of LL.D.
Originally a Whig and later a Republican, from 1846 to 1848 he served as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) to Horace Eaton, the governor of Vermont. He studied law with Oliver P. Chandler and attained admission to the bar in 1848.
Career
Move to California
Billings moved to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush of 1848, where he became the city's first land claims lawyer. One of his first clients was John Sutter. A friend Billings made on the trip introduced him to Bennet C. Riley, who served as the last military governor before California achieved statehood in 1850. By age 30, Billings was a millionaire from his legal fees, increases in real estate values, and profits from his other enterprises, including part ownership of San Francisco's Montgomery Block, the largest office building west of St. Louis at its 1853 opening. In October 1863, Billings was the featured speaker at a San Francisco event held to celebrate recent Union military victories. In November 1863, Billings defended several individuals who attempted to steal a schooner from San Francisco Bay, which was the first step in their plan to seize a steamship and become pro-Confederate privateers. They were convicted, but Billings succeeded in saving them from the death penalty.
In 1864, California changed from electing members of the United States House of Representatives to at-large seats to electing them by Congressional district. Even though he had moved away, his pro-Union record led Republican supporters of Billings to support him for the party's nomination in the 1st District, which included San Francisco. Donald C. McRuer was able to obtain the nomination, and went on to win the seat. Later in 1864, California Republicans wrote to President Abraham Lincoln and suggested the state was entitled to be represented in Lincoln's cabinet because California had supported Lincoln's reelection. They recommended Billings for an appointment and implied that Secretary of the Interior would be a suitable position. After Lincoln's assassination, California Republicans urged his successor Andrew Johnson to make the appointment. Among other complications, Billings suffered from an extended illness that prevented him from advocating on his own behalf, and he was not nominated.
Return to Vermont
In 1864, Billings left New York City and returned to Woodstock, where he practiced law and resumed his business interests. In late 1865, friends of Billings proposed him as a candidate for the United States Senate from California, but the nomination went to Cornelius Cole, who went on to win the seat. In 1868, Billings was an original incorporator of the New England Telegraph Company, which was chartered by the state to construct a telegraph line connecting northern and southern Vermont, and connecting Vermont to adjacent states. In 1869, he purchased George Perkins Marsh's former estate. Billings had read Marsh's pioneering volume on ecology called Man and Nature, and set about to put into practice his theories on conservation. This eventually led to creation of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, which oversees and interprets what is probably the oldest managed forest in the United States. In 1871, he was elected a director of the National Life Insurance Company.
Billings was also involved in civic and charitable activities, including serving on the University of Vermont's board of trustees from 1867 to 1873. In 1870, Billings was elected president of the Vermont Bible Society. In 1871, he was chosen for the presidency of the Windsor County Agricultural Society. Billings also advocated for the creation of the Vermont Veterans' Home to care for former Civil War soldiers. When the Vermont General Assembly passed a bill incorporating the home in 1884, Billings was selected as an original member of its board of trustees. He served on the board of directors beginning in 1870. In November 1868, he made a well received speech at a party campaign rally in Barnard, Vermont. Billings was mentioned as a candidate for governor in 1869, but disclaimed any interest. His name was again prominently mentioned in 1870, but Billings deferred to John Wolcott Stewart, who won the nomination and the general election.
In 1872 Billings was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Vermont. The Republican nomination was then tantamount to election, and Billings was president of the state Republican convention and had a large group of delegates pledged to him. Governor Stewart also had a strong following, but his opponents argued that re-nominating him would violate the party's "Mountain Rule", which prior to Stewart's election to a two-year term had limited governors to two one-year terms. Delegates decided that the Mountain Rule would limit Stewart and his successors to one two-year term, and the Billings and Stewart delegates compromised on the governorship by nominating Julius Converse even though he was not an active candidate. Later that year, he took part in the Fifth Avenue Conference, a meeting organized by Carl Schurz for Republicans opposed to the perceived corruption of the Ulysses S. Grant administration and in favor of progressive measures including civil service reform. When the party nominated presidential and vice presidential candidates not connected to Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler, Billings publicly expressed satisfaction with the ticket, though illness prevented him from actively campaigning for it.
In 1880, Billings was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and made the nominating speech for presidential candidate George F. Edmunds, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, but the nomination went to James A. Garfield. Billings was a delegate again in 1884, and again supported Edmunds for president, but the nomination eventually went to James G. Blaine.
Death and burial
In December 1889, Billings suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. The bearers included James Barrett and Oliver P. Chandler.
Family
In 1862, Billings married Julia Parmly (December 3, 1835 - February 17, 1914), the daughter of Dr. Eleazer Parmly, a prominent New York City oral surgeon. They were the parents of seven children:
Billings was the brother of Franklin Noble Billings. He was the uncle of Governor Franklin S. Billings and grand-uncle of Judge Franklin S. Billings Jr. Although he never owned a home in Billings, Montana, a railroad town established in 1882 and named after him, his wife provided the money to build its First Congregational Church. Frederick Billings endowed the Billings Library, completed in 1885 for the University of Vermont, and purchased the George Perkins Marsh collection of 12,000 volumes for it. In 1908, Julia Billings provided an endowment which enabled creation of Whitman's Frederick Billings Professorship of Biblical Literature.
Billings' son Frederick Jr. provided a donation to Billings, Montana which financed construction of the Parmly Billings Memorial Library. Billings' daughter Elizabeth later provided additional funding, which was used to complete an addition to the original library.