Hinman Hurlbut

Hinman B. Hurlbut (July 20, 1819 – March 22, 1884) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. A native of New York, Hurlbut relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1837 and started a career privately practicing law in Massillon, Ohio after being admitted to the bar in 1839. After a lucrative career as a lawyer, he found success as a business leader in Cleveland and came to own four national banks by 1863.

Among other philanthropic ventures, Hurlbut founded the Lakeside Hospital, today part of the University Hospitals of Cleveland, and left funds through his will that would later help establish the Cleveland Museum of Art. He is considered to be one of the founders of the museum along with John Huntington, Horace Kelley, and Jeptha Wade II.

Early life and career

Hinman Hurlbut was born on July 20, 1819 in St. James County, New York, United States, to mother Mary Barrett Hurlbut and father Abiram Hurlbut. His father Abiram was a farmer and moved from Connecticut, where his family resided, to New York. Hurlbut is related to Governor Hinman, a colonial ruler of Connecticut, through the maternal side of his family.

In 1837, Hurlbut relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked in his brother's law office and in 1839 was admitted to the bar. After being admitted to the bar, Hurlbut opened his own law office in Massillon, Ohio in 1839, and entered private practice in partnership with David Kellogg Cartter. He stopped practicing in 1852 after a lucrative career as lawyer, and thenceforth became more involved in banking.

Business ventures

Hurlbut returned to Cleveland in 1852, where he opened his first bank. He purchased the Toledo branch of the State Bank of Ohio in 1856, in collaboration with James Mason, Henry Perkins, Joseph Perkins, Amasa Stone, Morrison Waite, Stillman Witt, and Samuel Young. By 1863, he owned a total of four national banks.

Retiring from his business ventures in 1865, Hurlbut took a three-year tour of Europe and returned to Ohio in 1868. He came back out of retirement in 1871, and became the president of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway in the same year.

Hurlbut is considered a founder of the Cleveland Museum of Art, along with John Huntington, Horace Kelley, and Jeptha Wade II. He left an excess of a quarter million dollars for the founding of an art museum through his will, which would help establish the museum. Parts of his art collection were also exhibited at the museum in 1917, 1921, and 1922.

He founded the Cleveland City Hospital, later known as the Lakeside Hospital and merged into the University Hospitals of Cleveland in 1925, and also endowed a chair of natural sciences at the Western Reserve College.

Hurlbut married Jane Elisabeth Johnson (1818–1910) on May 25, 1840, and they lived in a house on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

Hurlbut was an avid art collector. He first became interested in art during two trips to Europe, making his first trip in 1865 and his second trip in 1881. By the time he returned from his second trip, his collection consisted of 58 pieces of artwork of various media, including watercolor paintings, drawings, and sculptures. His wife was also interested in art and may have stimulated his collecting activities, continuing to purchase additions to their collection on annual trips abroad, even after her husband's death.

Hurlbut died on March 22, 1884. He is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.