Frederick Converse Beach

Frederick Converse Beach (March 27, 1848 – June 8, 1918), was a New York patent attorney, editor and co-owner of Scientific American, and editor-in-chief of the new Encyclopedia Americana in the early 1900s. He became President of the oldest yacht club in Connecticut. He was also the father of Stanley Yale Beach, an aviation pioneer and early financier of Gustav Whitehead. Biography Frederick Converse Beach was born on March 27, 1848, in Brooklyn, New York, to Alfred Ely Beach, builder of New York's first subway. His grandfather was Moses Yale Beach, publisher of the New York Sun, and his uncle was Moses Sperry Beach, publisher of the Boston Daily Times. His other uncle William Yale Beach was a banker and real estate developer, and his cousin Charles Yale Beach was a manufacturer and real estate investor. Frederick's son was Stanley Yale Beach, an aviation pioneer, and the Beaches were all members of the Yale family. Frederick Converse Beach graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1868. In 1869, he was made night superintendent of the Beach Pneumatic Transit tunnel under Broadway, and then in 1870, operated a pneumatic car and explained its working to the public.