Hetty Green facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hetty Green
Green in 1897
Born	Henrietta Howland Robinson (1834-11-21)November 21, 1834 New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 3, 1916(1916-07-03) (aged 81) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Immanuel Cemetery, Bellows Falls, Vermont, U.S.
Education	Eliza Wing School
Occupation	Financier
Known for	Financial prowess, miserly conduct
Spouse(s)	Edward Henry Green ​ ​ (m. 1867; died 1902)​
Children	Edward Harriet
Relatives	Sylvia Ann Howland (aunt)

Hetty Green (born November 21, 1834 – died July 3, 1916) was an amazing American businesswoman and financier. During her time, she was known as "the richest woman in America." Some people called her the "Witch of Wall Street" because of her careful spending habits. However, those who knew her well admired her and called her the "Queen of Wall Street." This was because she was willing to lend money fairly to other financiers and even city governments when they needed it most.

Hetty Green was very disciplined with her money. This helped her build a huge fortune, especially at a time when almost all major financiers were men. After she passed away, The New York Times newspaper said that people often misunderstood her. They noted that her being a woman made her career very interesting and surprising to many.

Even so, many news reports from her era described her careful spending as being stingy. The Guinness Book of World Records even called her the "greatest miser" (someone who hates spending money). Stories said she refused to buy fancy clothes or pay for hot water. She supposedly wore the same dress until it was completely worn out. But when you look at her whole life, these stories often didn't tell the full truth about her.

Early Life

Henrietta ("Hetty") Howland Robinson was born in 1834 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Her family was one of the wealthiest in the city, known for their whaling business. They were also Quakers, a religious group known for their simple lifestyle.

When Hetty was just two years old, she went to live with her grandfather, Gideon Howland. Her grandfather was a smart businessman. Hetty would read him the stock prices and business news. This is how she started learning about business from a very young age.

By age six, Hetty was reading financial papers to her father. She learned how to read ledgers (financial records) and trade commodities (raw materials like oil or grain). When she was 13, Hetty became the family's bookkeeper. She often went with her father to places where business deals were made.

Hetty also went to school, including Friends Academy and a finishing school. She even made her social debut in 1854. But she always returned to New Bedford. She loved making money, just like her father, and he was proud of her for it.

Family and Marriage

Hetty's mother, Abby Robinson, passed away in 1860. Her mother's money went to Hetty's father, except for a house for Hetty. Later, Hetty's aunt Sylvia gave Hetty $20,000 in stocks as a gift.

In New York, Hetty met Edward Henry Green, who would become her husband. Edward was a millionaire who had worked in business in the Far East for 20 years. Hetty's father had made sure that Edward would not get control of Hetty's money.

On July 11, 1867, Hetty married Edward Henry Green. She was 33 years old. Before the wedding, she made him agree that he would not have any rights to her money. The couple moved to London, England, where their two children were born: Edward (called Ned) in 1868 and Harriet (called Sylvia) in 1871.

Hetty and Edward separated in 1885. However, they remained married and spent more time together later in their lives.

Smart Investing

Hetty Green had a special way of investing. She called it: "I buy when things are low and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up and people are crazy to get them." She believed this was the secret to all successful business.

Hetty invested the money she received from her father's trust fund. She bought Civil War bonds, which paid good interest. She also invested in railroad stocks. In her first year of investing in London, she made $1.25 million! She once said, "I believe in getting in at the bottom and out on top." She always studied investments carefully before making a decision.

Her Investing Style

Hetty often worked from the offices of the Seaboard National Bank in New York. She didn't want to pay rent for her own office. She would bring her papers in trunks and suitcases. Because she dressed simply, people sometimes called her "the Witch of Wall Street."

Hetty was a very successful businesswoman. She mainly dealt with real estate, invested in railroads and mines, and lent money. She also bought many mortgages. She was very good with details. She would travel long distances by herself to collect even small debts. This was unusual for women at that time.

Author Ken Fisher wrote about Hetty Green in his book 100 Minds That Made the Market. He said that even though she was seen as unusual, Hetty was a better investor than many others on Wall Street. She understood the power of compound interest (earning interest on interest). Her focus on steady, smaller gains and living simply made her fortune last. Others, like Jesse Livermore, made bigger sums but lost it all by spending too much or taking big risks.

Helping During Crises

The Panic of 1907 was a big financial crisis. Hetty Green saw it coming long before others. She had saved a lot of cash. When the crisis hit, she lent money generously to financiers and even the City of New York. This helped them get through the tough times. She was the only woman invited to an important meeting with famous banker J. Pierpont Morgan during the crisis.

Her Public Image

Green circa 1905

Why She Was Thrifty

Hetty Green's careful spending was famous, but often misunderstood. Her time, the Gilded Age, was known for people spending too much. Hetty was one of the few investors who chose not to. However, reporters often said her thriftiness meant she was stingy. They didn't see that it was a good quality and helped her investing.

News stories claimed she never turned on the heat or used hot water. She was known for wearing a simple black dress until it was completely worn out. It was even said she only had her laundress wash the bottom parts of her dresses to save on soap. The worst story was that she didn't pay for her son's injured leg, which led to it being amputated. But there is much proof that Hetty Green spent a lot of money and effort to help her son. She took him to many doctors and even moved so she could care for him.

Hetty saw her thriftiness differently from the public. Her father, who was also a successful investor, taught her to be frugal. She once told a story about her father refusing an expensive cigar. He said he liked his cheap cigars and didn't want to lose his taste for them. Hetty's Quaker background also taught her to live simply. She told a reporter, "I am a Quaker, and I am trying to live up to the tenets of that faith. That is why I dress plainly and live quietly." Her thriftiness was also key to her investing. It allowed her to buy things confidently during financial panics because she knew she could live on very little.

How the Media Saw Her

The media often showed Hetty Green in a negative light. But her investing style avoided the tricky methods used by other Wall Street people, like Daniel Drew. She once said that people on Wall Street wrote about her without knowing the real Hetty Green. She felt they saw her as heartless because she was serious about business. She also said she didn't like the fancy life of some rich people. She preferred talking to people.

Hetty was also a secret philanthropist, meaning she gave to charity without telling the press. She believed in "discreet charity." She also had a reputation for being a good nurse, caring for her sick neighbors.

Despite her good ethics compared to others, Hetty Green became part of American sayings. People would say, "I'm not Hetty if I do look green," meaning they weren't as rich or naive as they might seem.

Later Years and Death

As a young man, Hetty's son, Ned, moved away to manage family properties in Chicago and Texas. Later, he returned to New York, and Hetty spent her final months living with him.

Hetty's daughter, Sylvia, lived with her mother until she was in her thirties. Hetty didn't approve of any of Sylvia's boyfriends. She thought they only wanted Sylvia's money. Sylvia finally married Matthew Astor Wilks in 1909. He was a distant relative of the rich Astor family. He had enough money of his own ($2 million) to show Hetty he wasn't marrying for money. Still, Hetty made him sign an agreement saying he wouldn't inherit Sylvia's fortune.

When her children grew up and left home, Hetty moved often. She lived in small apartments in Brooklyn Heights and later in Hoboken, New Jersey. She did this mainly to avoid paying high property taxes in New York. However, she still lent money to New York City at fair rates. She regularly traveled to her office at the Chemical Bank. By 1905, Hetty was the biggest lender in New York.

In her old age, Hetty developed a hernia (a bulge in the body). She refused to have surgery. She eventually moved her office to the National Park Bank.

Death

Hetty Green passed away on July 3, 1916, at age 81. She died at her son's home in New York City. The Guinness Book of World Records once said she died after arguing with a maid about skimmed milk. However, The New York Times reported that she had a series of strokes before her death.

When she died, Hetty Green was known as the "Wizard of Finance" and the "Richest Woman in America." People estimated her wealth to be between $100 million and $200 million. This made her possibly the richest woman in the world at that time.

Hetty Green was buried next to her husband at the Immanuel Cemetery in Bellows Falls, Vermont. She had changed her religion to his Episcopalian faith later in life so she could be buried with him.

Her two children, Ned and Sylvia, split her fortune. They seemed to enjoy their wealth more than she had. They both managed their money well during the Great Depression. This was because they followed Hetty's advice to buy carefully and keep a lot of cash saved. Ned was a great collector of many things, from cars to science items. He left his money to his sister Sylvia. In 1948, Sylvia gave Ned's Round Hill estate to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT used the property for experiments, including a particle accelerator.

Sylvia Green died in 1951. She left about $200 million. She donated almost all of it to 64 colleges, churches, hospitals, and other charities. Both children are buried near their parents in Bellows Falls.

Her Legacy

Hetty Green's life inspired movies like The She-Wolf (1931) and You Can't Buy Everything (1934). These films featured a very careful billionaire businesswoman based on her.

Hetty Green's old mansion in Englewood, New Jersey was bought by the Actors Fund of America in 1928. Today, it is the Lillian Booth Actors Home.

Sylvia Wilks, Hetty's daughter, had no children. Her large fortune was given to 64 different charities. Here is a partial list of some of the places that received money:

• The Academy of St. Joseph (New York)
• American Red Cross (Washington, DC)
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (New York)
• The Blair Academy (New Jersey)
• Christ Church (Connecticut)
• City of New Bedford (Wilks) Library (Massachusetts)
• Columbia University (New York)
• Fire Department’s Honor Emergency Fund (New York)
• Fordham University (New York)
• The General Theological Seminary (New York)
• The Girl Scouts of America (New York)
• The Groton School (Connecticut)
• Harvard College (Massachusetts)
• Immanuel Episcopal Church (Vermont)
• Institute for Crippled and Disabled (New York)
• The Johns Hopkins University and Hospital (Maryland)
• The Kent School (Connecticut)
• Lenox Hill Hospital (New York)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts)
• Middlebury College (Vermont)
• New York Society Library (New York)
• New York University (New York)
• NYU Bellevue Medical Center (New York)
• Sheltering Arms Children’s Service (New York)
• Stevens Institute of Technology (New Jersey)
• St. Bartholomew’s Church (New York)
• St. George’s Church (New York)
• St. Ann’s Protestant Episcopal Church (New York)
• St. Luke’s Home for Aged Women (New York)
• St. Luke’s Hospital (Massachusetts)
• St. James Church (New York)
• St. Paul’s School (New Hampshire)
• St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church (New Jersey)
• Vassar College (New York)
• Yale University (Connecticut)

See also

In Spanish: Hetty Green para niños

• Business magnate
• Collyer brothers, New York City misers and hoarders
• Countess Annie Leary