Seeley Wintersmith Mudd (1861 - 1926)

Born 16 Aug 1861 in Kirkwood, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 May 1926 at age 64 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States

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Biography

Col. Seeley Wintersmith Mudd (1861–1926) was a mining engineer. He was born in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri on August 16, 1861. In December 1885, he moved to Leadville, Colorado, to work at the Small Hopes silver mine, then in bonanza. He worked his way up from assayer to become the mine’s manager in 1888. While managing the Small Hopes mine he also leased other Leadville properties which provided him a modicum of financial independence.

In 1901, he and his family (wife Della Mullock and sons Harvey S. Mudd and Seeley G. Mudd) moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked as a consulting engineer for the Guggenheim Exploration Company. He acquired his first major capital by choosing to receive a percent of the findings instead of a fixed salary. In 1907 he started up the Ray copper mine in Arizona, one of the first large scale porphyry copper operations. By the time of his death Ray Consolidated Copper Company had produced 200 million dollars worth of copper. It is still in production.

Also in Arizona, he and Ray Con partner Philip Wiseman took a wildcat speculation on the United Eastern mine in the Oatman district. When they hit high grade ore in 1916 they caused one of the last of the desert country gold rushes. The high grade ore deposit proved Arizona's richest and provided the partners with a quick but short-lived profit.

In early 1914, just before World War I, he was a partner in a drilling opportunity in the island of Cyprus, where evidence of Roman and Phoenician mining of Copper ore had been found. After obtaining permission from the British government, which was ruling Cyprus at the time, Cyprus Mines Corporation was formally launched and in March 1916 and shares of stock authorized. Seeley and his son Harvey Seeley Mudd were very successful with this this multi-national corporation.

During World War I, Seeley Mudd received his commission as a Colonel in the U.S. Army. He served as one of the government's dollar a year men, helping upgrade munitions production for the War Department.

Seeley W Mudd died in St. Louis May 24, 1926. He was an advocate for education and, among other gifts in his will, provided one million dollars for the Claremont College in Pomona, California, where he had been chairman of its board. His sons would follow in his philanthropic foot steps.

His parents were H T Mudd (b. 1820) and Sarah E Mudd (b. 1824).

He was named after Horatio Wintersmith.

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeley_W._Mudd
2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104308131
3. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4XK-GL6 : 12 April 2016), Seeley Mudd in household of H T Mudd, Missouri, United States; citing p. 67, family 5, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,307.
4. "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQMD-VSY : accessed 11 January 2018), Seeley W Mudd, Precinct 6-7 Leadville city Ward 3, Lake, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 48, sheet 18B, family 381, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,125.
5. "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDX-RL2J : 13 October 2015), Seeley W Mudd, 1907; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #33394, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 38, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).