T. J. Southard

Thomas Jefferson Southard (June 18, 1808 – September 20, 1896) was an American shipbuilder, ship owner, entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Richmond, Maine.

Southard was a leading property developer in his home town, and owned, founded or helped establish many businesses there, as well as encouraging infrastructure projects.

[1][2] In 1819, at the age of eleven, intent on becoming a sailor, Southard hiked across to Richmond, Maine (then known as White's Landing), where he was hired by Captain Solomon Blanchard.

[1][3] After completing his apprenticeship, Southard set up his own forge on the Kennebec River, where he did a lucrative trade[3] as a shipsmith,[2] often taking payment in shares of the ships he serviced.

[3] While plying his trade, Southard also continued his education, studying draftsmanship and ship construction, until he had accumulated enough wealth and knowledge to open his own shipyard.

[15] Of these, Eureka in particular was an "outstanding" ship: the largest Maine-built vessel at time of construction,[12] she later made several fast passages around Cape Horn or across the Atlantic.

[16] In addition to his shipbuilding company and merchant fleet, T. J. Southard was a major contributor in numerous other ways to the economic and social development of his home town of Richmond and the surrounding locale.

[3] He owned numerous businesses collectively employing hundreds of people, including four shipyards, a brass foundry, grist mill, saw and planing mill, furniture factory, sail loft, bakery, edged tool store,[3] drugstore and dry goods and West Indies goods store, the latter alone turning over $50,000 annually in 1840s dollars.

The latter building, designed by T. J. Southard himself and featuring a cast iron facade transported from Boston, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s.

[18] During the Civil War, Southard and a business associate, Cornelius Vanderbilt, were accused of endangering the lives of Union soldiers by selling the government unseaworthy ships at inflated prices for the 1862 Banks expedition to New Orleans.

(died in infancy), Caroline G., Harriet Frances (married name Hussey), Mary Elizabeth (Merrill), Ellen Jane (Stoutenburg), Florianna M. (Hulbert) and Delia Davis (Tallman).

[21] T. J. is said to have "never fully recovered" from the loss of his daughter Delia, who was aboard the Southard ship G. W. Morton, commanded by her husband Horatio, when it disappeared without trace on an 1854[22] voyage.

Late in life, his preferred mode of personal transport was a basket phaeton—a type of horse-drawn carriage with a reputation for being fast and dangerous.

[23] T. J. and his wife Jane had few grandchildren, but a grandson by their son Charles, named Thomas Jefferson Southard after his grandfather, achieved a degree of prominence in the fields of banking and insurance.