Edgar F. Luckenbach

Edgar Frederick Luckenbach, Sr. ( January 19, 1868 – April 26, 1943 ) was an American shipping magnate who inherited his father's steamship company, which he incorporated in 1913 under the name Luckenbach Steamship Company, Inc. (also known as Luckenbach Lines).

Family[]

Edgar Luckenbach was born in Kingston, New York. His parents, both born in Germany, were Lewis (Ludwig) Luckenbach (died Aug. 18, 1906) and Mary E. Frey (died Jan. 24, 1926). His family then moved to Brooklyn, where Edgar attended public schools. After graduating from high school, Edgar went to Rondout, New York, to join his father in the shipping business, which had been founded in 1850.^[1]

Edgar Luckenbach married three times. His first marriage was to Florence Bissell, of Brooklyn. However, she died a few months after their marriage. His next marriage was to Susan Vickers, which terminated in divorce. Finally, he married Andrea Fenwick in 1919, and they remained married until her death at age 50 in 1937.^[2] The family lived at Elm Court, their estate in Sands Point, New York, and usually wintered in Palm Beach, Florida.

Luckenbach had one son with his second wife, named Lewis, and two children with his third wife, named Edgar Frederick Luckenbach, Jr. (May 17, 1925 - August 9, 1974) and Andrea (d. April 1, 1962 at the age of 41^[3]). In his later life, Luckenbach had a tumultuous relationship with his daughter. After her marriage to William Dobbs in 1939, a man of whom he did not approve, Luckenbach refused to give her any money for support. Andrea was then forced to withdraw early from her trust fund, which had been set up by her grandmother.^[4] When just 33 years old, Andrea was shot four times by her estranged 3rd husband Frederick O. Hammer in June 1954 in the paddock of the Delaware Park race course, but survived.^[5]

Personal interests[]

Luckenbach was very active in club affairs. He was a member of the Atlantic Yacht Club, , New York Yacht Club, the , the and the Everglades Club of Palm Beach.^[6]

In business, he was a member of the , the and the New York Produce Exchange. He was elected president of the in 1927, but refused the post because of his busy business.^[6]

He was also an avid horseman. His saddle mare, Lucky Nira, won many horse shows throughout the 1920s and 1930s. His third wife, Andrea, also held many horse shows at their country estate.

Death[]

After months of declining health, Edgar F. Luckenbach died at his estate, Elm Court, in Sands Point, New York, on April 26, 1943. He was 75 years old.

A few years after his death, the 104 acres (0.42 km²) Elm Court estate was put up for auction. It consisted of a 22-room main house, a 12-room dwelling, a 4-room cottage, a 7-room house and two 8-room homes. Also on the estate were a six-car and a four-car garage, greenhouses, orchards, a chicken coop and a bathhouse on the beach.^[7] The estate later became the campus of Sands Point Country Day School, also known as Sands Point Academy, a school for gifted children, which operated there from 1954 to 1973.

Business[]

Luckenbach's father Lewis owned the Luckenbach Steamship Company, and Edgar succeeded to its presidency upon Lewis's death in 1906, moving its operations to Manhattan.^[6]

After the First World War, Luckenbach decided it was in the best interest of the company to focus on domestic trade. He established terminal facilities throughout the United States, including in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Mobile and Galveston. Luckenbach Steamship Company was a successful and longest-lived US shipping companies. Lewis Luckenbach started in 1850 with one tugboat in New York. Next, he started moving barge transport of Virginia coal in barges with tugs from Norfolk, Virginia to New England. During World War II Luckenbach Steamship Company chartered ships from the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. During wartime, the Luckenbach Steamship Company operated Victory ships, Liberty shipss, and a few Empire ships. After the war, the company purchased some of the low-cost post-war cargo ships. Luckenbach Steamship Company failed to upgrade to container ships and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s and with the Vietnam War over Suckenbach Steamship Company closed in 1974, all ships being sold or scrapped due to age.^[8][9]

USS Montauk (SP-1213) 1899 Luckenbach tug

SS Red Oak Victory

• Some ships: SS Harry Luckenbach, SS War Indian, SS Lena Luckenbach, USS Walter A. Luckenbach (ID-3171), USS Katrina Luckenbach, SS Jacob Luckenbach, USS Seneca, USS Montauk (SP-1213), USS Penobscot (SP-982), USS W. F. Babcock, Washington (SP-1241), SS Saale, SS Booker T. Washington, USS Edgar F. Luckenbach (ID-4597), USS Edward Luckenbach, USS F. J. Luckenbach (ID-2160), USS Frederick Luckenbach (1888), USS Julia Luckenbach (ID-2407), USS K. I. Luckenbach (ID-2291), USS Katrina Luckenbach (ID-3020), USS Luckenbach Tug No. 1 (ID-1232),and USS Walter A. Luckenbach (ID-3171). World War 2 charter the:
• SS Red Oak Victory^[10]
• SS Navajo Victory
• SS Kokomo Victory
• SS F. A. C. Muhlenberg
• SS Frederick Douglass
• SS Kemp P. Battle
• SS Haym Salomon^[11]
• SS Howard T. Ricketts
• SS Pine Bluff Victory
• SS Pittston Victory
• SS John S. Casement
• SS Stephen H. Long
• SS Stephen Hopkins
• SS Edward W. Bok^[12]
• SS Edwin L. Godkin
• SS Mexico Victory
• SS Billy Sunday^[13]
• SS John R. Park^[14]
• SS David Bushnell ^[15]
• SS Donald H. Holland
• Selma Victory ^[16]

References[]