America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous
Biography
Volume I
C
Felix Campbell
page 128
HUGH NESBITT CAMP, manufacturer, was born Oct. 14, 1827, in the village of
Livingston, N. J., about ten miles from Newark, at the house of his maternal
grandfather, Calvin Ely. In the following December he was brought to New York
by his parents, and New York has been his home ever since. His parents were
Isaac Brookfield Camp and Jeannette Ely, both natives of New Jersey and
children of neighboring farmers. Beginning life at fourteen, he was employed
in various ways until 1843, when he entered the counting house of James A.
Edgar, then of the firm of Booth & Edgar, commission merchants. In March,
1854, at the suggestion of Francis Skiddy, his lifelong and much loved friend,
he formed a partnership for sugar refining in Bristol, R. I. With $40,000
capital, loaned to the new concern by Francis Skiddy, Booth & Edgar, and
William Platt & Sons, of Philadelphia, the firm of Camp, Brunsen & Sherry
engaged in business and were highly successful. Within a year they repaid
their borrowed capital, and for fourteen years fortune smiled upon them. In
1868, the firm dissolved, Mr. Camp buying the interest of Messrs. Brunsen and
Sherry, and forming a new partnership, taking as partners George Robertson,
one of his salesmen, and William McK. Chapman, under the name of Hugh N. Camp
& Co. During the war many competitors came into the field, over-production
followed, and Mr. Camp succumbed in 1870. He prepared to resume, but finally
concluded that the real estate business offered a greater opportunity, and he
opened an office in Pine street, as broker and auctioneer, and met with
success far ahead of his expectations. In 1880, he began buying and selling on
his own account, paying especial attention to lands in the 23d and 24th Wards.
In these dealings he has been successful. He is also and has been for many
years largely interested in lead mining in Missouri, and in the cement
business in Pennsylvania. In 1854, Mr. Camp married Elizabeth Dorothea
McKesson, daughter of John McKesson. Of their eight children, six are
living�Edward B., Maria Lefferts, who married Perry P. Williams; John
McKesson, Fred. Edgar, Alice Emily, and Hugh Nesbitt Camp, jr. Their home has
been since 1861 at Morris Heights, where in 1863 he built "Fairlawn." In 1880
Mr. Camp was appointed by Mayor Edson, one of the Committee of Seven, to
inquire as to the necessity of an additional supply of water for this city.
From the action taken at that time, the citizens of New York are indebted for
the magnificent supply of pure water it now has. Mr. Camp has been trustee of
The Mutual Life Insurance Co., director of The Mechanics' National Bank, The
Continental Trust Co., The Title Guarantee & Trust Co. (and vice-president of
the latter), and The Twenty-third Ward Bank; and trustee of Clinton Hall
Association, of which he was secretary about thirty years, The Skin and Cancer
Hospital, and The House of Rest for Consumptives. At present he is treasurer
of The St. Joseph Lead Co., The Doe Run Lead Co., The Mississippi River &
Bonne-Terre Railroad, trustee of several charities and a member of The Chamber
of Commerce. His clubs are the Century, Union League, Grolier, Church,
Republican and City. In politics Mr. Camp is a staunch Republican, and has
been since 1859. He died, Sept. 21, 1895.
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