Los
Angeles County
Biographies
ROBERT
MARTIN HENNINGSEN
HENNINGSEN, ROBERT MARTIN, Constructing Engineer, Los Angeles, California, was born in Marebo, Denmark, March 4, 1858, the son of John Henry Henningsen and Anne (Sine) Henningsen. He married Agnes C. Sansam at Oakland, Cal., April 4, 1906. They have an adopted son, Frederick A. Henningsen.
Mr. Henningsen’s parents brought him to America when he was a child, locating at Oshkosh, Wis., and there he spent the early part of his life. He attended the public and high schools of Oshkosh and followed this with studies at the University of Chicago, but did not finish the course.
Leaving college in 1882, Mr. Henningsen went to work with his elder brother, a constructing engineer of Oshkosh. He later became a partner in the business, handling various important operations until 1889, when he disposed of his interest in order to go West.
Early in 1890 Mr. Henningsen located at Tacoma, Wash., and there organized the Western Woodenware Co., a corporation which he served as President for approximately six years. During this period he brought the business up to a point where it was one of the leading enterprises of its kind in the Northwest. In 1897, however, he succumbed to the excitement of the gold find in the Klondyke, so disposed of his interest in the woodenware company, resigned his office and joined the army of gold-seekers then pushing towards the far North.
He went to Dawson City, Alaska, then the center of the excitement, and plunged actively into the life of the place, his previous experience as an engineer giving him somewhat of an advantage over those men who did not possess engineering knowledge. In addition to working various claims of his own, he grubstaked others in return for an interest in the claims located.
He also operated in the Atland mining district and for the next few years was one of the active men of the region, enduring the hardships and reaping the rewards that went with life in that country. He had numerous trying experiences in the Klondyke and on one occasion tramped eighteen hundred miles over the snow and ice, driving a six-dog team attached to a pack sledge. He covered the distance in sixty days, a feat which won for him considerable renown in the region.
In 1901, after nearly four years in the Klondyke, Mr. Henningsen abandoned mining and took a contract with the United States Government for the construction of life saving stations along the southwest coast of Alaska. This work took more than a year and upon its completion he was given another Government contract, to design and construct the military post now known as Fort Lawton, at Seattle, Wash. This, one of the most modern army posts in the U.S., was finished by Mr. Henningsen in 1903.
After fulfilling his contracts with the Government, Mr. Henningsen went to Nevada, where gold had recently been found, and was there engaged to design and construct many of the stamp mills now in operation at Goldfield. Among others he built the plant of the Florence Mining Co., the Combination Mining Co. and the Western Purchasing Co. Incidentally, Mr. Henningsen became interested in various mining properties and for five years was in the famous gold camp.
Like many other men of the Goldfield boom, Mr. Heningsen, in 1908, turned to Los Angeles for a residence, and there engaged in engineering work and several profitable investment enterprises. He became interested in oil development at Bakersfield, Cal., within a short time after his arrival at Los Angeles, and secured one of the large producing wells in the Midway field. This well flowed an average of forty thousand barrels a day, according to estimates, for six months, at the end of which time it was brought under control. Mr. Henningsen organized the Midway Five Oil Co. for the operation of this well and served as its president until 1911, when he sold his interest and went back to mining, which has occupied most of his time since.
He organized the Battleship Mining Co., which owns valuable property in the vicinity of Lordsburg, New Mex.; and as President of this company he is now among the men who are putting their money and their energies into the work of developing the resources of the country.
He is also Vice President of the Western Excavator & Development Co., a project involving the improvement of a tract of land several thousand acres in extent in the rich Sacramento Valley, Cal. This valley, which is well supplied with water, is exceedingly fertile and is destined to become one of the garden spots of the State.
Mr. Henningsen is not only engaged in the enterprises mentioned, but also is aiding others in their development work, as a member of the firm of Oliver & Henningsen, Civil and Mining Engineers, with headquarters in Los Angeles. Oliver & Henningsen are closely allied with the vast system of development now being carried on in all parts of the Southwest and are reckoned among the leading engineers.
Mr. Henningsen is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Los Angeles Lodge No. 99 and is a life member of the Seattle Athletic Club, Seattle, Washington.
Transcribed 3-18-11
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source:
Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 612, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
©
2011 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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