Minor Cooper Keith facts for kids
Minor Cooper Keith (born January 19, 1848 – died June 14, 1929) was an American businessman who made a huge impact on the economies of countries in Central America and the Caribbean part of Colombia. He built railroads, started big farms, and ran shipping companies.
Keith first came to Central America to work on a railroad in Costa Rica. This project was started by his uncle, Henry Meiggs. While working on the railroad, Keith began growing and selling bananas to the United States. Later, in 1899, his banana businesses joined with another company to form the powerful United Fruit Company, where he became a vice-president. Keith also invested in other things, like gold mining in Costa Rica and real estate in the U.S.
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Early Life and First Jobs
Minor Cooper Keith was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Minor Hubbell Keith, was a lumber merchant, and his mother, Emily, was the sister of railroad builder Henry Meiggs.
When Keith was 16, he worked as a store clerk in Broadway. After a few months, he left that job to become a lumber surveyor. He saved $3,000 in just one year! With his savings, Keith bought a cattle ranch near the Rio Grande river in southern Texas. He managed this ranch until 1871. That year, his uncle invited him to help build a railroad in Costa Rica, a country in Central America.
Building the Costa Rican Railroad
A Big Project Begins
In 1871, Keith's uncle, Henry Meiggs, signed a deal with the Costa Rican government. The plan was to build a railroad from the capital city, San José, all the way to a new port on the Caribbean Sea called Limón. Minor Keith was involved from the very beginning. When his uncle passed away in 1877, Keith took over the entire project.
Why a Railroad Was Needed
At that time, Costa Rica mostly made money by selling coffee. The coffee was grown in the country's central valley and carried by oxcarts to the Pacific port of Puntarenas. Since most of the coffee was sold in Europe, and there was no canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans yet, building a railroad to the Caribbean was very important. It would make it much easier and faster to ship coffee to Europe.
Tough Challenges and Hard Work
Building this railroad was incredibly difficult. There wasn't enough money, and the land was very rugged with thick jungles and heavy rains. Many workers also got sick from diseases like malaria and yellow fever. Sadly, thousands of people, including Keith's three brothers, passed away during the construction of just the first 25 miles of track.
Because of these challenges, Keith had to hire workers from other countries. He brought in many English-speaking workers from Jamaica, and also some Chinese and Italian laborers. The Jamaicans who came to Costa Rica still keep their unique heritage today.
A New Deal for the Railroad
By 1882, the Costa Rican government ran out of money and couldn't pay Keith or the banks that had lent money for the railroad. Keith managed to get £1.2 million more from banks and private investors himself. He also convinced the banks to lower the interest rate on Costa Rica's old loans from 7% to 2.5%.
In return, the government gave Keith a huge amount of land—800,000 acres (about 324,000 hectares)—along the railroad. This land was tax-free. They also gave him a 99-year lease to operate the train route. This agreement was signed on April 21, 1884, and is known as the "Soto-Keith contract." The land Keith received was about 6% of all of Costa Rica!
Keith also had strong connections with important people in Costa Rica. In 1883, he married Cristina Castro Fernández, whose father and uncle were both powerful politicians, and her cousin-in-law later became president.
The Rise of the Banana Trade
From Railroads to Bananas
The railroad was finished in 1890. However, not enough people or goods were using it to cover Keith's debts. But Keith had a clever idea! As early as 1873, he had started trying to grow bananas using roots he got from the French.
To sell these bananas, Keith began running steamboats from Limón to New Orleans in the United States. Selling bananas turned out to be very profitable. He soon created the Tropical Trading and Transport Company to manage his growing banana business.
Becoming a Banana Giant
Keith then partnered with M. T. Snyder to start even more banana farms in Panama and Colombia. He eventually became the main person in charge of the banana trade across Central America and Colombia.
In 1899, Keith faced some financial difficulties. This led him to combine his company with Andrew W. Preston's Boston Fruit Company, which was strong in the West Indies banana trade. This merger created the very powerful United Fruit Company, and Keith became its vice-president. In 1904, Keith made another deal with the President of Guatemala, Manuel Estrada Cabrera. This deal gave the United Fruit Company tax breaks, more land, and control over all railroads on Guatemala's Atlantic coast.
Other Business Ventures
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Besides bananas and railroads, Keith also invested in gold mining in Abangares, Costa Rica. In 1912, he returned to building railroads, creating the International Railways of Central America. He eventually completed an 800-mile (1,287-km) railway system. His dream was to build a line from Guatemala all the way to the Panama Canal, but he passed away before he could finish it. His work greatly changed the economies of Central American countries.
Keith also started a chain of general stores and owned one of the biggest poultry (chicken) farms in the United States. He bought a lot of land and businesses in Florida, including a railroad and mills. He also helped develop the area around Panama City, Florida, by building hotels and a new golf course. Many people say he helped "put Bay County on the map."
Keith was also interested in history and culture. He was a trustee for a foundation that looked after George Gustav Heye's collection of Native American artifacts. Keith himself left his own collection of ancient Native American gold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Death
Minor Cooper Keith passed away on June 14, 1929, from a lung illness at his home in West Islip, Long Island, New York.
See also
In Spanish: Minor Keith para niños
