John William Mackay
John William Mackay | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 28, 1831 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | July 20, 1902 (aged 70) London, UK |
| Resting place | Green-Wood Cemetery |
| Occupation(s) | Shipbuilder, prospector, partner in Comstock Lode mines |
| Organization(s) | Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Bank of Nevada |
| Known for | Being one of the "Bonanza Kings" |
| Spouse | Marie Louise Hungerford (m. 1867) |
| Children | John William Mackay Jr, Clarence Hungerford Mackay |
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John William Mackay (November 28, 1831 – July 20, 1902) was an Irish-American industrialist who rose from rags to riches. Born into abject poverty and raised in the slums of New York City, Mackay joined in the California gold rush in 1851. He did not find gold but moved to Nevada in 1859 and found silver. He became one of the four Bonanza Kings, a San Francisco partnership which capitalized on the wealth generated by the silver mines at the Comstock Lode in Nevada He was one of the richest Americans in his time. He also headed a telegraph business that laid transatlantic cables, and he helped finance the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway Company.