William Brooks Close

Close was born in 1853 in Naples, Italy.[1] He was one of eight children, all of whom grew up on the yacht Sibilla, which his father, James Close, sailed on the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. His father was a banker and a business advisor to Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Following Ferdinand II's death in 1859, James retired and subsequently died of a heart attack in 1865 at the family home in Antibes, France.[2] After his father's death, his mother sent Close and three brothers to school in England to prepare them for a career that would earn them a living. From the time he was a child, Close believed that "being a gentleman and earning money was in no way incompatible". Close later attended Wellington College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3][4] He was runner-up to Alfred Dicker in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta in 1875.[5]

Close first arrived in the United States in 1876 when he was the president of the Cambridge University Boat Club that was taking part in the Centennial Regatta in Philadelphia during the summer. Recovering from an injury sustained during the race, Close met Daniel Paullin, a landowner and a land speculator from Quincy, Illinois, who told him that it was possible to earn a significant amount of money buying and selling land in northwest Iowa to settlers.[2][6][4] Close traveled to West Virginia where his brother Frederick had been farming for two years. The journey to West Virginia was Close's first exploration of the United States countryside and he attempted to learn what he could about the land.[4] He and his brother toured the prairies in the Midwest and could see the merit in Paullin's claim. Close wrote in his journal, "To see what sort of land we should buy and to have some idea of their value, we organized our party for a week or ten days cruise on wheels through the western and less settled parts of Iowa." The Close brother's first stop was in Des Moines, Iowa, to speak with land agents about tracts that were available for purchase. Close said of Des Moines, "Like all western American towns, there is nothing worth looking at." The party then traveled almost 250 miles (400 km) in a circle until they reached Stuart, Iowa. After the brothers had traveled throughout the Iowa prairies they returned to Quincy where they stayed briefly with Paullin and his family, including his daughter Mary Paullin.[2][4]

The spring after their travels to the Midwest, Close and his brother emigrated to the United States. Close tried to contact friends, and they later went to Boston to travel the 1,550 miles (2,490 km) to Iowa by train with the Paullin family. Daniel Paullin showed the Close brothers Iowa's prairies so they could consider which land to boy. Their first purchase was for almost 2,594 acres (1,050 ha) in Denison, Iowa for $3.25 per acre in 1877. The brothers raised cattle and hogs on their unused land. During this time, Close was a superintendent of a Sunday school and his brother sang in a choir. Their brother James later emigrated to Iowa and settled there.[4]

Because farming in Iowa could yield a 54 percent return on investment, in 1877, British squires were interested in sending their sons to live on suitable land. Close was a role model for this movement because he was a well-known oarsmen and had rowed for three years at the University Boat Race where the University of Cambridge compete against the University of Oxford.[4] In 1878, Close and his brothers Frederick and James founded the Close Brothers Group in London after buying 14,475 acres (5,858 ha) acres of land. In 1879, they opened a Sioux City, Iowa, office. William became close to Mary Paullin, and they married in 1880. They moved their American office to Chicago in 1884.[2]

Close and his two brothers began a colony in Iowa, known as the Close Colony. Its heyday was from 1879 to 1885. Journalist Poultney Bigelow wrote in Harper's Magazine and described the colony,

They have the very best ground for fox hunting in the world – a rolling prairie with a creek here and there. Every colonist makes it his chief care, after buying his farm, to breed a good hunter for the steeplechase. They have regular meets for fox or 'paper' hunts, as the case may be. They last year opened a racing track, and wound up the race with a grand ball.[4]

A newspaper journalist in Le Mars, Iowa, wrote, "They descend from the recesses of the Pullman palace cars dressed in the latest London and Paris styles, with Oxford hats, bright linen shining on their bosoms, a gold repeater tucking in the depths of their fashionably cut vest pockets. We recall last summer a single family that had eighty-two pieces of luggage."[4]

In 1880, Close wrote Farming in North-western Iowa, United States of America: A Pamphlet for Emigrants and a Guide to North-western Iowa. The pamphlet contains information about the Close brothers and for those emigrating to Iowa.[7] The Prairie Club, which was known for its gatherings and popularity, was opened in Le Mars in 1881 and its rooms were renovated in 1882. During the Close Colony's heyday, many prominent families from Great Britain had a relative living in the colony. The only club members were British emigrants until 1882, when Americans were allowed to join to replace its dwindling numbers.[8] In 1884, Congress introduced a bill to "stop the Leviathan squatters from buying more of America". At that time, tracts that were equal to almost one-fourth of the area of the British Isles were owned by British emigrants living in the United States. The Close brothers operated the Iowa Land Company, which was likely the biggest foreign company operating in the United States at the time. The Close brothers were in the business of buying and selling acreage in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Texas, and other states. At times they owned at almost 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of the best land in the United States.[4]

There were multiple benefits for the Close Colony settlers. The Close brothers showed settlers "the best and cheapest lands" for a farm. If a settler was inexperienced at farming, they could live at a farm requiring help and possibly receive a wage. The Close brothers obtained wholesale lumber and were able to buy necessities such as machinery and furniture at a wholesale price. They charged a $250 commission and a $125 deposit before the settler left England. The deposit would be returned if the settler was unhappy living in the United States.[9]

The Close Colony had little to keep it together, with the exception being the British class system's social code, which the settlers wished to bring with them to the colony. While immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia moved to the Midwestern United States because it was necessary, some British immigrants were unconvinced that they had found their new home. They were under the impression that they could easily try something else if farming the land did not suit them. A few of them adopted a normal American middle-class life, but most of them did not want to do so. The colony eventually disappeared after Frederick Close died in a 1890 following a polo accident in Sioux City. An economic depression gripped the country, land lost its value, and a fire destroyed the Prairie Club. Most of the British immigrants returned to their original homes.[4]

The Close brothers purchased Kingsley, Iowa, then known as Quorn, along with parts of six Iowa counties: Woodbury, Plymouth, Cherokee, Lyon, Sioux, and Osceola.[6]

Three months after Frederick Close died in 1890, William's wife Mary Paullin Close gave birth to a son named Herbert. In 1893, Mary divorced him on the only legal grounds available at the time—adultery.[10] The court hearing took place on 18 July 1893 in the New York Supreme Court.[11]

In November 1897, Close met entrepreneur Charles Wilkinson who had maps, pictures, and stories about Alaska and the Yukon. Wilkinson thought there was a need to build a railroad to develop Alaska and Canada and wanted Close to invest in it. Wilkinson was willing to accept practically any deal, so Close decided to accept his proposal. Despite having an interest in building the railroad, Close did not intend for the Close Brothers Group to pay for all of its costs. The Close Brothers Group gave Wilkinson a $20,000 short-term loan. In February 1898, Wilkinson said his company was ready to begin building the railroad. Close assumed that Wilkinson could not pay back the loan on time, so he negotiated with others, including associates he knew about taking control. Wilkinson attempted to raise more money in Canada, but accepted the inevitable and gave Close control of the construction. On 8 March 1898, Close and his team researched legal issues that could prevent the completion of the railroad, known as the White Pass and Yukon Route. This enterprise was started in 1898 and it became operational by 1899.[2][11]

Towards the end of his life, Close continued these business ventures and also worked on using metal to reinforce concrete and roads. Close died in 1923 at the home of actress Florence Desmond on the Isle of Wight.[11]

• List of Cambridge University Boat Race crews