Havemeyer, Henry O.

Havemeyer, Henry O. (Osborne) (1847–1907) sugar refiner; born in New York City (second cousin of William F. Havemeyer). Born into the family that owned the North River Sugar Refining Company, he began working in the refinery in his adolescence. In 1887, with his brother Theodore Havemeyer, he consolidated 15 other refineries in the area to form the Sugar Refineries Company. After this so-called "sugar trust" lost a N.Y. state antitrust suit (1890), the corporation reorganized in New Jersey as the American Sugar Refining Company, which by 1907 had more than 25 plants. Extremely wealthy, Havemeyer collected European paintings, many of which were bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.