Alexander Arthur
| Alexander Arthur | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 30, 1846 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | March 4, 1912 (aged 65) Middlesboro, Kentucky, USA |
| Occupation | Business, Engineering |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Forrest Nellie Goodwin |
| Parent(s) | Alexander Arthur and Catherine Allen |
Alexander Alan Arthur (August 30, 1846 – March 4, 1912) was a Scottish-born engineer and entrepreneur active primarily in the southeastern United States in the latter half of the 19th century. Flamboyant, charismatic, and energetic, Arthur used his prominent American and European financial connections to fund numerous business ventures, most of which were overly ambitious and ultimately failed. A proponent of economic advancement in what became known as the New South, Arthur played a primary role in the development of the Cumberland Gap area, and in the course of his endeavors established the cities of Middlesboro, Kentucky and Harrogate, Tennessee. The community of Arthur, Tennessee, is named for him.
After spending his early life migrating back and forth between Scotland, Canada, and Scandinavia, Arthur moved to Boston in 1879, and accepted a position as the general manager of the Scottish-Carolina Timber and Land Company's American operations. In the early 1880s, Arthur identified a rich stand of timber in the upper Blue Ridge Mountains along the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and devised a boom system to extract the timber from the difficult mountain terrain. Later in the same decade, Arthur identified the abundant iron ore deposits in the Cumberland Gap region, and established a multimillion-dollar iron production operation in hopes of making Middlesboro the "Pittsburgh of the South." While he never experienced great financial success, Arthur's endeavors were a harbinger of the great logging and mining operations that became major economic forces in Southern Appalachia in the early 20th century.
Alexander Arthur was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the eldest son of Alexander and Catherine Allen Arthur. While Alexander was still a child, the Arthurs moved to Montreal, Canada, although Arthur returned to Glasgow within a few years to attend school. In 1867, Arthur joined the 167th Highlander Regiment, and during the same period married his first wife, Mary Forrest. Arthur moved several times throughout the following decade, living in Norway and Sweden before immigrating to the U.S. city of Boston in 1879. After the death of his first wife, Arthur married Boston socialite Nellie Goodwin, who introduced him to numerous New England financial connections.
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