Henry B. Plant
| Henry Bradley Plant | |
|---|---|
|
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| Born |
October 27, 1819 Branford, CT |
| Died | June 23, 1899 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen Elizabeth Blackstone (m. 1842–61) Margaret Josephine Loughman (m. 1873–99) |
| Children | Morton Freeman Plant |
Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was involved with many transportation projects, mostly railroads, in the U.S. state of Florida. Eventually he owned the Plant System of railroads which became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Plant City, located near Tampa, was named after him.
Plant became famous as president of the Plant System of railway and steamer lines, and also the Southern and Texas Express Co. He was born in October, 1819, at Branford, Connecticut, and entered the railroad service in 1844, serving as express messenger on the Hartford and New Haven Railroad until 1853, during which time he had entire charge of the express business of that road. He went south in 1853 and established express lines on various southern railways, and in 1861 organized the Southern Express Co., and became its president. In 1879 he purchased, with others, the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad of Georgia, and later reorganized the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad, of which he became president. He purchased and rebuilt, in 1880, the Savannah and Charleston Railroad, now Charleston and Savannah. Not long after this he organized the Plant Investment Co., to control these railroads and advance their interests generally, and later established a steamboat line on the St. John's river, in Florida. From 1853 until 1860 he was general superintendent of the southern division of the Adams Express Co., and in 1867 became president of the Texas Express Co. The "Plant system" of railway, steamer and steamship lines is one of the greatest business corporations of the southern states.
Henry Bradley Plant was founder of the Plant System of railroads and steamboats. He attended Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, Virginia, and was a stellar student. He was born in Branford, Conn., the son of Betsey (Bradley) and Anderson Plant, a farmer in good circumstances. He was the descendant of John Plant who probably emigrated from England and settled at Hartford, Conn., about 1639. When the boy was six, his father and younger sister died of typhus. Several years later his mother married again and took him to live first at Martinsburg, N.Y., and later at New Haven, Conn., where he attended a private school. His grandmother, Betsy Plant, who hoped to make a clergyman of him, offered him an education at Yale College, but, impatient to begin an active career, he got a job as captain's boy, deck hand, and man-of-all-work on a steamboat, The New York, plying between New Haven and New York City.
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