Benjamin Edward Bates IV (/beɪtɛs/; July 12, 1808 – January 14, 1878) was an American rail industrialist, textile tycoon and philanthropist.

He moved to Bristol, Maine, for a working residency at B. T. Loring Company before he created the Davis, Bates & Turner, a craft goods and service firm in the early 1830s.

Contracted by the Maine Legislature, Bates founded the Lewiston Water Power Company, a large mill-based enterprise that built the first canal in the city.

At the start of the American Civil War, Bates correctly anticipated that the talk of secession in the Southern States would lead to a shortage of cotton.

The resulting shortage created an absolute monopoly and skyrocketing prices, which drove dozens of New England businesses to close because of their inability to compete.

Growing economic inequality in the city culminated to 1861 Lewistown cotton riots, which led Bates to loosen his expansionary business tactics and increase philanthropic spending.

Like other business magnates at the time, such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, Bates supported capitalism and anti-competitiveness.

In 1838, there was a denominational split within the church to create a Unitarian theologian association that questioned the divinity of Christ, and Elkanah Bates was picked to lead the movement.

[6] He is the great-great-grandson of Benjamin Bates II, Commander of the Devonshire Forces, and member of the Hell Fire Club.

When Bates was a younger boy, his brother recounted him being dragged by two horses across a "considerable distance," which left him badly cut and bruised.

He pulled the horses down and eventually halted their movement, a commendable task considering Bates was only 14 years old at the time.

They met while Bates was a clerk for Barnabas T. Loring on Washington Street after a mutual friend had offered "a firm with respected work.

The firm enjoyed financial success as its previous deals had garnered high standing among the mercantile community of Maine.

[12] In 1837, the firm experienced low levels of revenue and output because of the external effects of panics involving financial security and credit in New York City.

The firm remained active and even put up positive net return on some years during the panic because of its good credit and lack of debt.

[13] The overall speculative markets involving whole sale goods caused Bates's firm to remain cautious when it sold and took out loans for restructuring.

During the recovery consultations between Maine and Massachusetts business leaders, a prominent banker, Homer Bartlett, was quoted as famously saying, Who was the strongest man in that meeting [referring to the financial panics]?To which the crowd overwhelmingly replied,Bates!

[15]The quote would go on to largely shape Bates's minor celebrity status and fed the growing reputation of producing the best results in times of uncertainty.

The crowd included Lyman Nichols, George L. Ward, Alexander De Witt, Francis Skinner, Homer Bartlett, and St. John Smith.

[19] Bates travelled to Lewiston regularly while he lived in Boston and other Maine towns to "interact with the people, give guidance to the businesses, and support its economy.

[25][1] Like numerous factories in Maine, Bates' mill was receiving cotton from the South, where it was grown and cultivated by slave labor.

His capitalization of that saw to great levels of profit for his firms and companies and caused dozens of mills to be closed by the overwhelming competition.

Public pressure made him lessen his business tactics and create the philanthropic arm of the Bates Manufacturing Company, tasked with giving out thousands to the people of Lewiston.

[1] The Lewiston Sun Journal called him "the supplier of the cause," after he had spoken at a town hall meeting and detailed his employment of thousands of New Englanders and Canadians.

After the stabilization of his properties and business contracts, he began a further expansion into Lewiston's economic environment and regained considerable wealth.

Bates served as the treasurer for the college in the early days and condemned the business strategy that Cheney developed when he interacted with potential donors.