{{Short description|American politician}} {{good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Wellington R. Burt | image = Wellington R. Burt (sitting portrait).jpg | alt = Old white-haired man with white bushy moustache in black suit with high collar sits stern face in a leather chair, legs crossed, staring at a distant point. | caption = | order = | office = Mayor of East Saginaw | term_start = 1867 | term_end = 1868 | predecessor = Dwight G. Holland | successor = James L. Ketcham | state_senate2 = Michigan | district2 = 22nd | term_start2 = 1893 | term_end2 = 1894 | predecessor2 = Enoch T. Mugford | successor2 = Emory Townsend | birth_date = August 26, 1831 | birth_place = Pike, New York, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1919|3|2|1831|8|26}} | death_place = Saginaw, Michigan, US | resting_place = Forest Lawn Cemetery<br />Saginaw, Michigan | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | party = Democratic | other_party = Fusion | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Sarah Torrans|1860|1867|reason=d}}<ref name="Burnham"/>|{{marriage|Mary Amina Richardson|1869|1904|reason=d}}<ref name="Burnham"/>}} | parents = Luther Burt, Florinda Horton<ref name="Burnham"/> | children = Hattie May, Jennie, Emma, Gertrude, Charles, George, Marvin<ref name="Burnham"/> | education = {{ubl|Albion College (1yr)|Michigan Central College Hillsdale College (1yr)}} | occupation = | profession = Timber, iron, rail, finance, salt | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Wellington R. Burt''' (August 26, 1831 – March 2, 1919) was an American lumber baron from Saginaw, Michigan.<ref name="Kim">{{Cite news | last = Kim | first = Susanna | title = $100 Million Finally to Be Split Between Descendants, 92 Years After Rich Relative's Death | newspaper = ABC News| date = May 10, 2011 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Business/lumber-barons-descendants-receive-inheritance-92-years-death/story?id=13569633| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Engel-1">{{Cite news| last = Engel| first = Justin L.| title = Wellington's millions: 92 years after his death, Saginaw lumber baron's vindictive testament nears endgame| newspaper = The Saginaw News| location = Saginaw, Michigan| date = May 8, 2011| url = http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2011/05/wellingtons_millions_92_years.html|access-date = 2012-06-08}}</ref> At the time of his death, his wealth was estimated to be between $40 and $90 million (equivalent to between ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|40000000|1919}}}} and ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|90000000|1919}}}} in {{inflation-year|US}}).<ref name="Orwig"/><ref name="Miller">{{cite web| last = Miller| first = Ed|first2=Jean R. |last2=Beach | title = Wellington R. Burt| work = Biographical Sketches| publisher = Saginaw Hall of Fame and Castle Museum of Saginaw County | url = https://docs.google.com/file/d/1FW8aT2FH5rl18JoBM7dcJcalQRxAeA6m-1Jw8-NMA7w5-uaKN8k0hUDXRJFE/edit?usp=sharing| access-date = June 15, 2011 }}<!-- Original URL now dead no archives: http://www.saginawhalloffame.org/hono/Wellington%20R.%20Burt.pdf --></ref> For a time in the early 1900s, Burt ranked as one of the eight wealthiest men in the United States.<ref name="Engel-4"/> He was best known for his lumber mills and timber holdings, but was also involved in iron mining, railroads, salt mines, and finances. Burt was a politician, holding the offices of Mayor of East Saginaw (1867–68) and member of the Michigan Senate (1893–94). In his final years, he lived alone in a mansion with his servants. Estranged from friends and family and nicknamed "The Lone Pine of Michigan", he officially died of "senility" at age 87.<ref name="DeathCert"/><ref name="I2P"/>
Burt had an unusual will, "as bizarre but as finely-wrought as any in U.S. court annals".<ref name="Miller"/> It contained a "spite clause" conceived by Burt to avenge a family feud.<ref name="Miller"/> It specified to wait 21 years after his children and grandchildren were dead before the bulk of the fortune could go to any descendants, in effect alienating his children and grandchildren from the estate, beyond some small annuities. The conditions of the will were met in 2010 after the 1989 death of his last grandchild. In May 2011, twelve of Burt's descendants finally received the estate, worth about $100 million.<ref name="Engel-4"/>
Burt's legacy today is mixed, seen as a vindictive old man, a generous benefactor of the city of Saginaw and a famously wealthy American entrepreneur.
==Biography==
Burt was born on August 26, 1831, in the town of Pike, a small town in Western New York state, the ninth of thirteen siblings and the eldest son.<ref name="Orwig">{{cite web| last = Orwig| first = Douglas| title = Wellington R. Burt: Remarkable Eccentric| work = Mid-Michigan Remembers-Stories about Us| publisher = Delta College| url = http://www3.delta.edu/michiganremembers/stories/w_r_burt.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922225123/http://www.delta.edu/michiganremembers/stories/w_r_burt.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> His father was Luther Burt and his mother Florinda Horton Burt.<ref name="Burnham">{{Cite book| last = Burnham| first = Roderick H.| title = Genealogical records of Henry and Ulalia Burt, the emigrants who early settled at Springfield, Mass., and their descendants through nine generations, from 1640 to 1891| publisher = Miss Elizabeth Burt| year = 1892| pages = [https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00burn/page/n546 263]–64| url = https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00burn| access-date = 2012-06-08}}</ref><ref name="DeathCert"/> The Burts were poor farmers who came from an old New England line, tracing back to Henry Burt, who had settled from Scotland in 1640.<ref name="Burt"/> The Burt lineage included William Austin Burt (1792–1858), who was a notable Michigan surveyor described as "the father of the typewriter".<ref name="Burt">{{Cite book| last = Burt| first = Henry Martyn| title = Early days in New England: Life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and some of his descendants| publisher = C. W. Bryan Company| year = 1893| page = 295| url = https://archive.org/stream/earlydaysinnewen00burt#page/294/mode/2up}}</ref>
At the age of seven, he moved with his parents to Jackson County, Michigan, where he worked on the family farm.<ref name="Engel-4"/> Michigan had only been a state since January 1837–a mere year or two before the Burt family arrived—and Burt's subsequent life and career as a first generation Michigander was often identified with the growth and progress of the new state.<ref name="Burt"/> In 1843, when Wellington was 12, his father Luther died.<ref name="Burt"/> Under the guidance of his mother, he became the farm's manager and "entered into the struggle incident to pioneer life".<ref name="Burnham"/> He attended two years of college<ref name="Miller"/> one at Albion College and one at Michigan Central College (now Hillsdale College).<ref name="Orwig"/> At the age of 22, he decided to see the world and obtained work as a sailor abroad on freighters in Australia, Central and South America, and New Zealand.<ref name="Orwig"/> He would recall Australia as his favorite foreign country.<ref name="Miller"/>
When he returned home in 1857 at age 26, he found a burgeoning timber industry in Michigan, the "Green Gold Rush".<ref name="Orwig"/> He took a job earning $13 a month at the Pine River lumber camp near St. Louis, Michigan and within a month was promoted to camp foreman with double wages.<ref name="Engel-4"/> He was "tall, strong and knew how to give orders".<ref name="Miller"/> Using savings, he started his own lumber company in 1858, buying 300 acres in Gratiot County.<ref name="Miller"/> In 1867, he founded the community of Melbourne on the Saginaw River near Zilwaukee, Michigan, named after his favorite city in Australia.<ref name="Miller"/> By 1870, Melbourne was among the largest and most complete mills in the world,<ref name="Engel-4"/> but in 1876, it was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin.<ref name="Miller"/> Many at the time thought this would be the end of Burt's fortunes, but he also owned timber land elsewhere, including in St. Louis County, Minnesota, which turned out to be favourable for him,<ref name="Miller"/> as it was in the heart of the immensely valuable Mesabi iron range.<ref name="Miller"/> In addition to his various timber and iron mine holdings, Burt made his fortune in the salt industry, in railroads and in foreign bonds and banking investments.<ref name="Miller"/> He invested in the former CS&M Railroad (running between Durand and Bay City) and for a time, owned most of the Ann Arbor Railroad system.<ref name="Engel-4"/> He also bought railways in Russia and China.<ref name="Engel-4"/> He had plans to build a sugar beet factory in Owosso, Michigan, but the idea failed to come to fruition.<ref>{{cite web| last = Mahar| first = Thomas| title = History of Michigan's Beet Sugar Industry| date = April 17, 2010| url = https://beetsugarhistory.blogspot.com/| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref>
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Burt's political career included time as mayor of East Saginaw in 1867 and 1868, and as unsuccessful Fusion candidate for the position of Governor of Michigan in 1888. He was elected member of the Michigan State Senate 22nd District for 1893–94 again under the Fusion ticket, and as Democratic candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 8th District in 1900.<ref name="I2P">{{cite web|title=Burt, Wellington R. (1831–1919)|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/burruss-burtness.html#RMC04UIM2|work=Index to Politicians: Burrum to Burtnett|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|access-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> "In the capitol at Lansing", one ''Saginaw News'' account read, "Sen. Burt was more conspicuous for his political naiveté than for any distinguished act of statesmanship. They said he tried hard, but to him, politics were strange shenanigans. You smiled and joked when you meant to kick a man's shins."<ref name="Engel-4">{{Cite news | last = Engel| first = Justin L.| title = Wellington's millions: History kinder to Saginaw lumber baron than family's legacy, preservationist says| newspaper = The Saginaw News| location = Saginaw, MI| date = May 10, 2011| url = http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2011/05/wellingtons_millions_history_k.html| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref>
Later in his life, Burt lived alone in a three-story brick mansion at Cherry St. and E. Genesee Ave. It was demolished in 1959 and today is a parking lot.<ref name="Kim"/><ref name="Miller"/><ref name="DeathCert">Wellington R. Burt Death Certificate, State of Michigan – Department of State, Division of Vital Statistics. Photographic copy from [http://seekingmichigan.org/u?/p129401coll7,872826 SeekingMichigan.org], a Michigan historical records archive.</ref><ref name="Maday">{{cite web| last = Maday| first = Anna Mae| title = Burt Manual Training School| publisher = Saginaw Images| date = September 2000| url = http://www.saginawimages.org/essay.asp?ItemID=HEES0022&SearchTerm=9| access-date = June 15, 2011| archive-date = March 19, 2005| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050319032410/http://www.saginawimages.org/essay.asp?ItemID=HEES0022&SearchTerm=9| url-status = dead}}.</ref> With failing eyesight and hearing, he was taken care of by servants.<ref name="Miller"/> Due to his isolation from his family and social circles in later years, he was known as "The Lone Pine of Michigan".<ref name="I2P"/> He had radical stomach surgery at the age of 80. His death certificate lists his cause of death as "senility".<ref name="DeathCert"/> He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw County Michigan. (Section 8, Plot 1.)<ref name="DeathCert"/>
Burt was married twice and had seven children, three daughters from the first wife and one daughter and three younger sons from the second wife.<ref name="Burnham"/> His first wife was Sarah Torrans (1833–1867), whom he married May 22, 1860; his second was Armine Mary Richardson (1839–1904), whom he married February 10, 1869.<ref name="Burnham"/>
==Will== [[File:Saginaw MI dignitaries 1908.jpg|thumb|right|Dignitaries at the construction site of Saginaw's City Auditorium in 1908. From left to right: Unknown driver, Edward Hartwick, Congressman William S. Linton, Mayor William B. Baum, Wellington R. Burt.]] Burt had one of the more bizarre wills in American legal history.<ref name="Miller"/> It contained a "spite clause" which specified to wait until his children and grandchildren were dead before the estate could be dispersed to any descendants yet unborn in Burt's lifetime.<ref name="Miller"/> However, his children did receive relatively small annuities (when compared to the total size of his estate) of $1,000 to $5,000 each, except for one favorite son who received $30,000 annually, and one unfavored daughter who got nothing.<ref name="Kim"/> His secretary received $4,000 annually, more than most of his children, while a cook, housekeeper, coachman, and chauffeur each received $1,000 annually.<ref name="Miller"/>
Burt's will stipulated that the bulk of his estate was to be held in a trust until "21 years after [the death of] my last surviving grandchild [who was alive] at the time of my death" (the longest delay allowable under the Rule Against Perpetuities).<ref name="Kim"/> This condition was met in 2010, 21 years after the November 1989 death of Burt's last grandchild, Marion Lansill. In May 2011, after time for legal negotiations, the fortune was finally distributed to his descendants.<ref name="Kim"/><ref>{{cite news |first=Jon|last=Swaine|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8510703/American-tycoons-fortune-to-be-divided-up-after-92-years.html|title=American tycoon's fortune to be divided up after 92 years |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=May 13, 2011|access-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref> The estate was estimated in total at $100 million to $110 million.<ref name="Kim"/> It was split between twelve descendants, weighted based on age seniority. They included three great-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren; and two great-great-great-grandchildren – the youngest beneficiary was 19 and the oldest 94.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Engel| first = Justin L.| title = Wellington's millions: Saginaw judge carries out century-old wishes of unusual lumber tycoon| newspaper = The Saginaw News| date = May 9, 2011| url = http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2011/05/wellingtons_millions_saginaw_j.html| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref> The biggest beneficiary received between $14.5 to $16 million, with the smallest beneficiary between $2.6 to $2.9 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/goose-who-laid-the-goldenegg-plan-finally-at-peace-20110513-1emdu.html |title=Goose who laid the golden-egg plan finally at peace |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |first=Ed |last=Pilkington |date=May 14, 2011 |access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref> In the end, thirty of Burt's descendants, including children and grandchildren, missed out on the inheritance because they were ineligible or died before the will's conditions were met.<ref name="Engel-1"/>
It is not entirely clear why Burt made such an unusual will, but newspaper records suggest family feuds were likely at the core of his decision.<ref name="Engel-3">{{Cite news | last = Engel| first = Justin L.| title = Wellington's millions: Great-great-great granddaughter calls Saginaw lumber legacy a 'curse' on family| newspaper = The Saginaw News| location = Saginaw, MI| date = May 9, 2011| url = http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2011/05/wellingtons_millions_great-gre.html| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref> The will was challenged by his children after he died.<ref name="Miller"/> A legal hole was found in 1920 because part of the estate was composed of iron leases in Minnesota, and Minnesota had a law against trusts of such long standing. This portion of the estate, amounting to $5 million, was distributed to Burt's children and grandchildren<ref name="Miller"/> (a son, three daughters, and four granddaughters).<ref name="Engel-3"/> In 1961, an additional $720,000 was taken from the trust in settlement of a suit filed by nine heirs and the estates of three other descendants.<ref name="Engel-3"/>
==Legacy== Burt's legacy is mixed. On the one hand, he was once a famous and successful businessman who contributed to the community in many ways, and he was generally well regarded in his lifetime.<ref name="Engel-4"/> On the other hand, he is best known today for his bizarre will, giving him the reputation of a vindictive old man. Saginaw historian Thomas B. Mudd said, "For a while, I took Wellington R. Burt as a selfish rich guy, but the picture that emerges is of someone who also threw himself into the community".<ref name="Engel-4"/>
Burt could be tough, and not just with his children. Burt had originally devised millions in his will to the city, but retracted it when Saginaw officials increased his South Jefferson property assessment from $400,000 to $1 million four years before he died in 1919.<ref name="Engel-4"/> One well-known story recounts how Burt ordered some horses at the lumber mill to be starved and worked to death, "Mr. Callam, the horses are too fat", Burt reportedly said. "Trim them down, sir, and when the logs are out, dispose of them."<ref name="Engel-4"/> Mr. Callam refused to starve and kill the horses, so Burt fired him and found someone who would carry it out.<ref name="Engel-4"/>
Burt was generous in life and honored after death. His charitable giving to Saginaw during his lifetime was extensive, including funding the City Auditorium, the Burt Manual Training School,<ref name="Maday"/> a women's hospital, a Salvation Army and a YWCA that later became Jacobson's.<ref name="Engel-4"/> The town of Burt, Michigan, is named for him,<ref name="I2P"/> as is Burt Street in Saginaw, which borders the same block as his former home. The Burt Opera House in Taymouth Township carries his name and is still in use today as a community center.<ref>{{cite web| title = Burt Opera House| work = Michigan Historical Markers| publisher = Waymarking.com| url = http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJ1M_Burt_Opera_House_Wellington_R_Burt| access-date = June 15, 2011}}</ref> Trips on the paddle steamer ''Wellington R. Burt'' were once a popular day excursion along the Saginaw River (1876–1891).<ref>{{Cite book| last = Mills| first = James Cooke| title = History of Saginaw County, Michigan| publisher = Seemann & Peters| year = 1918| pages = 716–17| url = https://archive.org/stream/historyofsaginaw00mill#page/716/mode/2up}}</ref> Burt was inducted into the Saginaw Hall of Fame in 1967.<ref name="Engel-4"/>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px"> File:Wellington R. Burt steamer 1887.jpg|The popular side-wheeler paddle steamer ''Wellington R. Burt'' c. 1887 File:Newspaper Supplement to the Toledo Journal, Picturesque Maumee, August 28, 1892 - DPLA - 04386d634a2ac688e15684c8f2312a6a (page 40) (cropped).jpg|"Pleasure Steamer Wellington R. Burt" from Picturesque Maumee, 1892 </gallery>
==See also== *Charles Lathrop Pack *Thellusson Will Case
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Wellington R. Burt}} *[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=43.426456,-83.929461&layer=c&sll=43.426459,-83.929452&cbp=11,107.74,,0,10.26&cbll=43.426447,-83.92947&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&ll=43.426448,-83.929474&spn=0.002454,0.013894&z=17&panoid=oIpGsf9PiBXksvcd3RVh0A The Burt house location] via Google Maps street view. Cherry St. and E. Genesee Ave., Saginaw, MI *[https://archive.org/stream/historyofsaginaw00mill#page/716/mode/2up ''Wellington R. Burt'' steamer], a popular sidewheel steamboat on the Saginaw River ''ca.'' 1876–1891, from ''History of Saginaw County, Michigan'', 1918. *[https://archive.org/stream/historyofsaginaw00mill#page/292/mode/2up The Burt Manual Training School], from ''History of Saginaw County, Michigan'', 1918. *[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJ1M_Burt_Opera_House_Wellington_R_Burt Burt Opera House], Taymouth Township, Michigan (Michigan Historical Markers on Waymarking.com)
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=George L. Yaple}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Michigan|years=1888}} {{s-aft|after=Edwin B. Winans}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Wellington R.}} Category:1919 deaths Category:1831 births Category:Philanthropists from Michigan Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:American industrialists Category:American businesspeople in the timber industry Category:People from Wyoming County, New York Category:Mayors of Saginaw, Michigan Category:Democratic Party Michigan state senators Category:Albion College alumni Category:Philanthropists from New York (state) Category:19th-century American philanthropists Category:19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature