New York Bank History C / Scripophily.com1823 Established New-York Chemical Manufacturing Company
1823 Succeeded By Chemical Bank, The (1823-1865)
1865 Converted To Chemical National Bank of New York
05/01/1920 Acquire By Merger Citizens National Bank of New York
05/01/1929 Succeeded By Chemical Bank and Trust Company
06/01/1929 Acquire By Merger United States Mortgage and Trust Company
04/01/1948 Acquire By Merger Continental Bank & Trust Company of New York
03/01/1951 Acquire By Merger National Safety Bank & Trust Company of New York
10/15/1954 Acquire By Merger Corn Exchange Bank Trust Company
10/15/1954 Name Change To Chemical Corn Exchange Bank
09/01/1959 Acquire By Merger New York Trust Company, The
09/01/1959 Name Change To Chemical Bank New York Trust Company
06/01/1963 Acquire By Merger Bank of Rockville Centre Trust Company
02/01/1964 Acquire By Merger First National Bank of Mount Vernon
02/25/1964 Acquire By Merger Bensonhurst National Bank of Brooklyn in New York
02/17/1969 Name Change To Chemical Bank
01/19/1975 Acquire By Merger Security National Bank
11/10/1975 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank of Suffolk, N.A.
03/31/1977 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank Hudson Valley N.A.
09/29/1978 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank of Binghamton
09/29/1978 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank Buffalo
09/29/1978 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank - Eastern, N.A.
09/29/1978 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank of Rochester
09/29/1978 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank of Syracuse
03/06/1992 Acquire By Merger Chemical Bank Delaware
06/19/1992 Acquire By Merger Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company
07/14/1996 Acquire By Merger Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., The
07/14/1996 Name Change To Chase Manhattan Bank, The
12/01/1996 Acquire By Merger Chase Manhattan Bank, National Association
10/01/1998 Acquire By Merger Morgan Stanley Trust Company
03/05/1999 Acquire By Merger Texas Commerce Trust Company of New York
08/01/2000 Acquire By Merger Chase Bank of Texas, National Association
07/14/2001 Acquire By Merger Chase Bank of Texas - San Angelo, National Association
11/10/2001 Acquire By Merger Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York
11/10/2001 Name Change To JPMorgan Chase Bank
11/13/2004 Convert Federal JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association
Gerard Post, Daniel D. Smith, Balthazar P. Melick, Gideon Tucker,
Mark Spencer, John C. Morrison, and William A. Seely were unanimously
elected Directors. Melick was appointed President, Morrison as Agent,
William Stebbins as Cashier, James Kent as Counsellor, and William A.
Seely, Attorney and Notary. (Chemical Bank. New York National Advocate,
Jul. 1, 1824.) "The Chymical Bank, or company, was incorporated in Feb.
1823, with a capital of $100,000; books were opened for subscriptions
to the capital, and it was not taken up. Upon a representation of these
facts, made to a subsequent legislature, in April, 1824, the gave
banking privileges to the original incorporation, with a capital of
$500,000; but upon the express condition, that the purposes
contemplated by the previous act, should be pursued by the Bank. That
the original capital of $100,000, should be set apart, and actually
appropriated, to the extent of $30,000 at least, to the pursuit of the
manufacturing objects intended by the previous act. The Bank was not to
go into operation until the directors had purchased the manufactory of
Mr. Morrison, and set apart the appropriation; and if, at any
time, the appropriation should be withdrawn from the prosecution
of the manufacturing purposes, the banking privileges were to cease."
William J. Caldwell was Morrison's lobbyist in Albany. (Chymical Bank,
Incorporations, Lobby Members &c. New York National Advocate, Nov.
27, 1824.)
"John C. Morrison was one of the prime organizers of the company. He
was a director and acted as an agent of the company until 1832. He was
evidently the practical chemist in the concern. For years he was one of
the largest wholesale druggists in the city..." In 1825, it was moved
from Greenwich Village to a spot uptown on the Hudson River. (History
of the Chemical Bank, 1823-1913 By Chemical Bank and Trust Company, p.
137.) John C. Morrison continued operating the chemical company under
his own name into the 1840s. (Display Ad. New York Herald, May 2,
1844.) He was born in New Jersey in 1791 and died in 1872. His wife was
Hilah Bergh. He
purchased Vault 23 at New York Marble Cemetery in 1832, where he and a
number of descendants are interred. (Interments By Vault. Marble
Cemetery, accessed 9/17/11.) The Morrisons and their relatives, the
Posts, were early residents of the World Trade Center site. (Intensive
Archeological Study, World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment
Project, p. 24. By Historical Perspectives, Inc., Mar. 2004.)
His daughter, Hilah Julia Morrison, married Elisha Robbins, a
hardware merchant, originally from Charleston, S.C.. (Married. New York
Spectator, Oct. 24, 1833; Death List of a Day. New York Times, Oct. 19,
1897.) Elisha Robbins was a trustee of the Astor Mutual Insurance
Company. (Insurance. New York Times, Nov. 29, 1853.) Their daughters
had a double wedding. Caroline M. Robbins married Henry A. Robbins, and
Hilah Julia Robbins married Joseph Walker.
(Married. New York Herald, Jun. 5, 1857.) Joseph
Walker Jr. married Elizabeth L. Sloan, daughter of Samuel Sloan, President of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railway. Samuel Sloan Jr. was an
usher. (Last Evening's Weddings. New York Times, Apr. 27, 1887.)
Samuel Sloan Walker was a member
of Scroll
& Key
1917, who traveled to Palm Beach to tap the 1918 members a month early,
because six of the 15 secret society members (including [Reginald G.]
Coombe, Lawrence, Farwell and Read) were already in the Yale
aviation corps. ("Tap Day" At Yale. New York Times, May 19, 1916; Yale
Seniors Tapped. New York Times, Apr. 20, 1917.)
His brother, Joseph Walker Jr., was best man, and Knight Woolley,
S&B 1917, and Stanley Burke, Henry E. Coe, Samuel Meek, and Kenneth
E. O'Brien, all of Scroll & Key, and Henry Hutton Landon of Wolf's
Head were ushers at his
wedding. (Miss Audrey Riker Weds S.S. Walker. New York Times, Apr. 7,
1920.) He joined Joseph Walker & Sons, a New York Stock Exchange
firm that was founded in 1855 by his grandfather, Joseph Walker, with
his
brother as Francis T. Walker & Brother. Joseph Walker was an agent
for the U.S. government in selling gold for the account of the Treasury
Department. His sons, Joseph Walker Jr. and E. Robbins Walker, were
also members of the firm. Joseph Walker Sr. died in 1918. (75th
Anniversary For Walker & Sons. New York Times, Feb. 20, 1930.)
Samuel Sloan Walker retired as senior partner of the firm and died in
1978. (Samuel Sloan Walker. New York Times, Jun. 10, 1978.) Marguerite
E. Walker married Rae Rogers, Yale class of 1910, son of Archibald Rogers, Yale 1873.
Carol Harriman, daughter of E.H.
Harriman, was one of her attendants. (Miss Walker Weds. New York
Times, Oct. 13, 1908.)
Samuel Sloan Walker Jr. was
Skull &
Bones
1948. [Thomas William] Ludlow Ashley and Howard S. Weaver, S&B
1948, and William F. Buckley Jr., S&B 1950, were ushers at his
marriage to Alexandra de Bottari of Mexico City. Her sister was Mrs.
Richard Colt. (Miss A. de Bottari Married in Chapel. New York Times,
Jun. 27, 1948.) He was president of Walker & Co., book publishers,
when he remarried to Evelyn Bready. (Evelyn E. Bready Is Married To
Samuel Sloan Walker Jr. New York Times, Oct. 29, 1961.) "Other
legitimate publishers that received C.I.A. subsidies
according to former and current agency officials, were Franklin Books,
a New York based house that specializes in translations of academic
works, and Walker & Co., jointly owned by Samuel Sloan Walker Jr.,
a one-time vice president of the Free Europe Committee, and Samuel W.
Meek, a retired executive of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency
and a man with close ties to the C.I.A." Frank G. Wisner Sr. was the
first head of the covert action staff. "The C.I.A.'s propaganda
operation was first headed by Tom Braden, who is now a syndicated
columnist, and was run for many years by Cord Meyer Jr., a popular
campus leader at Yale before he joined the C.I.A." (Worldwide
Propaganda Network Built By the C.I.A. By John M. Crewdson and Joseph
B. Treaster. New York Times, Dec. 26, 1977.) Samuel Sloan Walker 3d
also graduated from Yale. His mother was vice president of Walker &
Company. He worked in the enforcement division of the Securities and
Exchange Commission. He married Elliott Ward Sparkman, a segment
producer for the "Today" Show on NBC. Her father, Dr. Thorne Sparkman,
was professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. (Elliott
W. Sparkman, Sloan Walker. New York Times, Apr. 28, 1996.)
Gerardus Post was a director of the Chemical Bank since 1824. He died in 1833, in his 58th year. (Died. New-York Spectator, Oct. 24, 1833.) He was a partner with his brother, William, in W. & G. Post. (Communication. New York Gazette, Feb. 22, 1806.) (Bill for Partition [Estate of Gerardus Post]. In: A treatise upon the practice of the Court of Chancery, Vol. III. By Murray Hoffman, 1840, p. 278.)
A treatise upon the practice of the Court of Chancery, p. 278 / Google BooksWilliam Post married Catharine Van Beuren, daughter of Dr. John H.
Van Beuren of Flatbush, Long Island. (Married. Republican Watch-Tower,
Feb. 21, 1806.) William Post's daughter, Sarah, married John C.
Morrison's son,
Christopher (or Christian) Bergh Morrison. (Married. New-York
Spectator, Jun. 13, 1828.) She died in 1875. (Died. Brooklyn Eagle,
Nov. 19, 1875.). Her brother, William Post, Esq., married Margaret
Morrison. They had a son, William Post, and a daughter, Mrs. Elias J. Herrick. (Obituary. New
York Times, Jun. 26, 1892.)
William Post Jr. was a member of the firm of Whittemore, Peet, Post
& Company, commission dealers in woolens, on the ground floor of
the New York Life Insurance Building at Broadway and Leonard. (Failure
of a Dry Goods Firm. New York Times, May 8, 1879.) He married Rose de
Wolf Anthony, daughter of Charles
L. Anthony and sister of Mrs. Frederick W. Vanderbilt.
(Married. New York Times, Nov. 16, 1864; Death of William Post. Newport
Daily News, Mar. 12, 1900.)
Gideon Tucker (1773-1845) was born in New York City. He was a
"Tammany sachem," an alderman and, in 1830, a state legislator. His
father was a New Jersey state legislator and a friend of Aaron Burr.
(Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson
River Valley, 1913.) He was a partner of Tucker and Ludlum with Samuel
Ludlum until 1811. (Notice. New York Public Advertiser, May 18, 1811.)
Mrs. Tucker was Jamima Brevoort. (Died. New York Times, Jul. 6, 1866.)
He owned a large amount of valuable real estate between the Bowery and
Fifth Avenue, Tenth and Twelfth Streets, which was sold in 1868 for
about $1,250,000. (In and About the City. New York Times, Dec. 5, 1890.)
His son, John C. Tucker, was indicted for attempting to bribe an
alderman to appoiunt his grandson, Gideon J. Tucker, to the presidency
of the Croton Aqueduct Board. (Indictments Against William McIntyre and
John C. Tucker, For an Alleged Attempt to Bribe Alderman Brady, Quashed
by the Recorder. New York Times, Jun. 21, 1860.) Gideon John Tucker was
Surrogate Judge of New York three times, secretary of state in 1857,
and a state legislator in 1865. He was briefly interested in The Albany
Argus, then founded the New York Daily News as a morning newspaper.
After 1878, he went to Prescott, Ariz. and ran The Daily Democrat for
three years. He married Clara Olive Livingston in 1848. (Judge Tucker
Celebrates. New York Times, Mar. 16, 1898; Death List of a Day. New
York Times, Jul. 26, 1899.) Mrs. Tucker was the daughter of Robert
Swift Livingston, who was rumored to have had several illegitimate
children. His brother was James Duane Livingston, whose daughter
married Supreme Court Justice Charles A. Peabody Sr. They were the
parents
of Charles A. Peabody
Jr. (Is Related to a Juror. New York World, Jun. 14, 1896; Americans of
Royal Descent. By Charles Henry Browning, 1891, p. 287.)
Balthazar P. Melick, Gerardus Post, John C. Morrison, Gideon Tucker,
Isaac Amerman, Thomas T. Woodruff, and Jacob Drake were unanimously
re-elected directors of the Chemical Bank. (New York Spectator, Apr. 6,
1827.)
Thomas Tyson Woodruff (1781-1855) was a descendant of John Woodruff
(1637-1691) and Sarah Ogden, founders of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. His
father, Thomas Woodruff Jr. (1720-1805) was a coffin-maker during the
Revolution. (Thomas Woodruff, Jr. (1720-1805), Carpenter and Coffin
Maker Daybook. The New Jersey Historical Society, accessed 10/08/11.)
Thomas T. Woodruff's son, Isaac Ogden Woodruff, (1813-1870), went
west and settled in
Quincy, Ill., where he was engaged in life insurance and banking. He
was the mayor and treasurer of Quincy, and treasurer of the Quincy
&
Toledo Railroad. (Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams
County, Illinois. By William Collins, 1905, pp. 458-463.)
Isaac O. Woodruff Sr.'s daughter, Helena Arethusa Woodruff, married
Thomas L. Leeming.
"Thomas Lonsdale Leeming was born in Burnley, England, in 1837. He
moved with his parents to Montreal, Canada, in 1840. About 40 years
later, [he] started a drug import business with exclusive rights to Ben
Gay, Pacquins, Visine and other products. After 80 years, Thomas L.
Leeming Company was sold to Pfizer in 1961 for a reputed forty million
dollars." They lived in Brooklyn since 1888. (No Rocking Chair For Me:
Memoirs of a Vibrant Woman Still Seeking Adventure. By Esther Leeming
Tuttle, 2004.)
His son, Isaac Ogden Woodruff Jr. (1848-1913) was born in Quincy and
graduated from Yale in 1871. "From 1876 to 1884 he was with T.L.
Leeming & Co., commission merchants dealing in druggists' supplies,
until 1879, being with the branch in Montreal, Canada, and then in New
York City." He was the class secretary. (Obituary Record of Graduates
of Yale University, 1910-1915, p. 602.)
His grandson, Dr. Isaac Ogden Woodruff, graduated from City College of New York in 1900, and received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia. He was president of the New York Tuberculosis Association from 1934 to 1941, and a founder of the New York Diabetes Association and the Health Council of Greater New York. He was president of the combined Welfare and Health Council of New York City unril 1959. He and his family moved to Toronto. (Ogden Woodruff, Physicians, Was 89. New York Times, May 30, 1969.) The New York Diabetes Association was funded by $15,000 from former Rep. Lucius N. Littauer. (Group Organized to Fight Diabetes. New York Times, Dec. 30, 1934.) "The health program of the New York Association is extensive and covers in addition to Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Harlem. These activities include tuberculosis, heart disease, social hygeine, industrial hygeine, community dental service, health education, radio service, research and statitstics." (Brief Notes From Other Counties. Gettysburg Star and Sentinel, Mar. 8, 1941.) His published articles included: Quality control of medical care under a prepaid plan. Can J Public Health 1957 Dec;48(12):505-512; discussion 512-514.)
Elected Directors at the Chemical Bank: B.P. Melick, John C.
Morrison, Gideon Tucker, Thomas T. Woodruff, James Bogert Jr., Thomas
J. Chew, and John R. Schelzmel. Melick was re-elected President, and
Morrison, Agent. (New York Morning Herald, Apr. 7, 1830.)
James Gordon Bennett, founder of the New York Herald, was a booster
of the Chemical Bank, who praised it and its president, John Mason, in
editorials. He said, "[W]e make all our deposits in the Chemical, the
quantity of specie - gold and silver - which we hand over, is a little
comfortable item in the present crisis. It was the day before yesterday
that I sent nearly $200 in silver to the Chemical." (Chemical Bank -
Specie. New York Herald, Apr. 20, 1837.)
John Mason died in 1839 in his 66th year. He lived at 640 Broadway.
(Died. New York Spectator, Sep. 30, 1839.) He was a director of the
Bank of New York (New York Spectator, May 14, 1827) and of the
Schenectady and Utica Rail Road (New York Spectator, Aug. 22, 1833),
and a Trustee of the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company. (New
York Herald, May 25, 1837.) His daughter, Mary, married Isaac Jones;
daughter Rebecca married Isaac C. Jones; daughter Helen married Joseph
Alston of South Carolina; and daughter Sarah married Andrew Gordon
Hamersley. His sons were John Mason Jr., James Mason, and Henry Mason.
It was witnessed by Francis E. Berger and George W. Strong. (The Will
of John Mason. New York Herald, Jul. 17, 1848.) Andrew Gordon Hamersley
(1807-1883) was a Royal descendant of Edward III, King of England.
(Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles Henry Browning, 1891, p. 608.)
Joseph Alston's father, William Algernon Alston, was a brother of Gov.
Joseph Alston who married Theodosia Burr. (The Alstons and Allstons of
North and South Carolina. By Joseph A. Groves, 1904, pp. 79-82.)
John Mason, founder of the Chemical Bank, was the fifth John Mason
in the U.S. The first John Mason, who arrived in 1629, was a founder of
the town of Portsmouth, N.H. He was the son of Sir John Mason, Governor
of the town of Portsmouth, England during the reign of Charles I. (The
Inside Story of the Hamersley Will Case. New York Times, May 1, 1910.)
"The Mason and Jones families were related both by business and family
ties and it is little wonder that in the early years, the (Chemical)
Bank appears somewhat in the light of a family enterprise. Three of
John Mason's daughters married members of the Jones family, Mary and
Serena becoming the wives of brothers, Isaac and George Jones
respectively, both of whom were directors in the Bank, while the former
succeeded his father-in-law as President. Rebecca Mason married Isaac
Colford Jones, a cousin of Isaac and George Jones." (The Descendants of
John Jones and John Mason by Marie Caroline de Trobriand Post, 1913.)
In 1844, its original charter expired and the bank was reorganized. John Q. Jones, the former cashier, succeeded John Morrison as President, and the new directors were John David Wolf, C.V.S. Roosevelt, Robert McCoskrey, and Bradish Johnson. The chief stockholders and heavy depositors were Robert and Peter Goelet and Joseph Sampson. (Three Bank Presidents. New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 6, 1891.)
Bradish Johnson was born in 1811 about forty miles south of New Orleans, on Woodland Plantation, a sugar plantation owned by his father, William M. Johnson. He graduated from Columbia College in 1831. William M. Johnson & Sons and its successor, Johnson & Lazarus (with Moses Lazarus) operated distilleries in New York City and sold the refuse as feed for cattle. When he retired in 1874, the firm continued as B. Johnson & Sons. He owned sugar plantations in Plaquemines, Ascencion, Assumption, and Pointe Coupeé Parishes, and on the False River, in Louisiana. "One of these plantations, called Assumption Plantation, is noted locally for the haunted house which stands on it." He freed his slaves before the Emancipation Proclamation, and offered them passage to Africa, but they chose to remain. (Obituary. New York Times, Nov. 5, 1892.) Two daughters, Margaret and Louisa, married Stephen Whitney in succession. (Necrology. New Orleans Daily Picayune, Nov. 5, 1892.) His wife, Louisa Anna Lawrence, was a Royal descendant of Alfred the Great, King of England, and several kings descended from him. (Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles Henry Browning, 7th Ed., 1911, p. 414.) His son, Bradish Johnson (1851-1918), was a director of the Equitable.
Americans of Royal Descent (1911), p. 414 / Google BooksHis business partner, Moses Lazarus, was the father of Emma Lazarus. (Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters. By Bette Roth Young, 1997.)
Emma Lazarus in Her World, p. 48 / Google BooksHis daughter, Lucy A. Johnson, married Dr. Alfred Ludlow Carroll
(1833-1893) (Married. New York Times, Feb. 26, 1862; Died. New York
Times, Feb. 12, 1909.). Dr. Carroll had nothing public to say in the
controversy over swill-feeding. He was later Secretary of the New York
State Board of Health. (Memoir of Alfred Ludlow Carroll, MD. By John
W.S. Gouley. Transactions of the New York State Medical Association,
1894, Vol. 10, p.402.) "For some years he was medical referee of the
Liverpool and London and Globe insurance company." (The Physicians and
Surgeons of the United States. William Biddle Atkinson, ed., 1878, p.
211.)
Another son, William Martin Johnson (1839-1879), graduated from Yale
in 1861. He was in business with his father. (Obituary Record of
Graduates of Yale College, 1870-1880, p. 407.) William M. Johnson's
widow married Edward M. Townsend. She was the daughter of James
Ingersoll Day. (Died. New York Times, Mar. 1, 1916.) Day was born in
New London, Conn., in 1812. He went to New York in 1827, and to New
Orleans in 1832, where he became president of the Bank of Louisiana. He
briefly retired to Connecticut in 1853, where he was elected president
of the New York, Boston, and Providence Railroad. He sympathized with
the Confederates in the Civil War, and went to Europe for several
years. He began his business career again with Slocomb, Baldwin
& Co. in New Orleans, and was later elected president of the Sun
Mutual Insurance Company, from which he resigned in 1892. (Guardians
Against Disasters. New Orleans Picayune, Jun. 16, 1886; James I. Day.
New Orleans Picayune, Sep. 23, 1895.)
Another son, Henry Meyer Johnson
(1856-1907), graduated from Yale in 1877. "Before entering college he
was in Europe from 1864 to 1867, then two years in the Collegiate and
Commercial Institute of General Russell
(Y.C. 1833) [co-founder of Skull & Bones] in New Haven, and four
years under the private instruction of Josiah Clark, LL.D. (Y.C. 1833).
He graduated from Columbia Law School and managed his father's estate.
(Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University, 1900-1910, p. 920.)
Captain William Johnson and his partner, George Bradish, "were sea
captains/pirates from Nova Scotia who had come down to the Deep Delta
in the late 1700s and worked for river pilot Juan Ronquillo... William
was also in partnership with the famous pirate, Jean Lafitte. Lafitte
would pirate ships off shore then bring the slaves up Grand Bayou,
which was a short cut to the Gulf of Mexico from Woodland, and hold
then at 4 large two-story brick slave quarters" until their sale.
(History. Woodland Plantation & Spirits Hall, accessed 7/11/11.)
William M. Johnson of New Orleans married Sarah Rice of Nova Scotia in
New York City in 1810. (Married. New York Evening Post, Aug. 2, 1810.)
John Quentin Jones (1803-1878) was born in New York City. His father
was Isaac Jones and his mother was John Mason's sister. He was also a
director of the Pennsylvania Coal Company and the Eagle Insurance
Company, and a Trustee of the New York Life Insurance and Trust
Company. He was unmarried, and lived with his sisters, Mrs. Frances
Rogers and Mary S. Jones. (The Chemical Bank's President. New York
Times, Jan. 3, 1878.) His brother, Joshua Jones, a lawyer, "never
practiced his profession, however, but spent his life roaming the
world." He left an estate of at least $7 million, largely in real
estate. (Heirs to a Big Fortune. New York Times, Mar. 31, 1888.)
John David Wolfe (1792-1872) was "the son of an officer of the
Revolution in the Paymaster's Department." (Obituary. John David Wolfe.
New York Times, May 20, 1872.) In 1822, he married Dorothea Ann
Lorillard (1798-1866), daughter of Peter Lorillard and Mary Schultz.
(Marriages. Boston Commercial Gazette, Apr. 29, 1822; Died. New York
Times, Aug. 21, 1866.) He was a director of the Hudson River Railroad
Company (Classified Ad. New York Herald, Jun. 12, 1849; Financial and
Commercial. New York Herald, Jun. 11, 1861.) He was a vice president of
the New-York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled.
(Relief for the Indigent, Ruptured and Crippled. New York Times, Nov.
11, 1869.) He was a business partner of Japhet Bishop in Wolfe &
Bishop until 1856, when they retired. The firm continued as Coffin,
Bruce, Bishop & Co. with John P. Coffin, George W. Bruce, David W. Bishop, and Albert
G. Lee. (New York Daily Tribune, Feb. 4, 1856.) David W. Bishop was
Japhet Bishop's son and John David Wolfe's nephew, and George W. Bruce
was another nephew from his sister, Catharine Wolfe. (Gravestone
Inscriptions of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.)
The old chemical factory from which the bank originated was bought by the Hudson River Railroad Company, whose directors included John David Wolfe, James Boorman, James Boorman Johnston, Edward Jones, Japhet Bishop, Erastus Corning, and Moses H. Grinnell. (New York City. New York Times, Jun. 15, 1852 p.1.)
John Q. Jones, John David Wolf, Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt, Robert
McCoskrey, and Bradish Johnson were elected directors of the Chemical
Bank. Peter Goelet, Isaac L. Platt, and Japhet Bishop were elected
Inspectors of the next election. George G. Williams was Cashier.
(Financial. New York Daily Tribune, Apr. 9, 1858; Financial. New York
Herald, Apr. 7, 1860, and Apr. 3, 1861.) In 1863, Robert Lenox Kennedy
replaced Bishop. (Financial. New York Herald, Apr. 7, 1863.)
"George G. Williams became president of the Chemical Bank in 1878, succeeding President Jones. Mr. Williams came to this city in 1842 from East Haddam, Conn., where his father had been for forty years the chief physician of the town. Securing a place as assistant paying-teller of the Chemical Bank, he became successively discount clerk, cashier, and president." He was the executor of the estate of millionaire Louis Hamersley, whose widow became the Dutchess of Marlboro. (Three Bank Presidents. New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 6, 1891.)
Directors: John Q. Jones, John David Wolfe, Robert McCoskry, James
A. Roosevelt, and George G. Williams. (Financial. New York Times, Jan.
17, 1866.)
President, John Q. Jones; Cashier, George G. Williams; Notary
Public,
John T. Lochman. Directors: John Q. Jones, John David Wolfe, James A.
Roosevelt, John H. Adam, and George G. Williams. (The National Banks of
New York. The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register, Apr.
1870;4(10)802.)
Ten shares of the stock of the Chemical National Bank were sold at auction by order of the executors of the estate of Charles H. Russell. "It is very seldom that Chemical Bank stock comes upon the market, and when it does there is always spirited bidding for it. The par value is $100 a share. The prices paid yesterday ranged from $2,510 to $2,518 per share." (Bank Stock Sold High. New York Times, Jan. 29, 1885.)
"Twenty shares of Chemical Bank stock were sold by auction at an
executor's sale on the Real Estate Exchange to-day to David Wolfe
Bishop, a relative of the late Catherine Wolf, who was the richest
woman in the country, at $4195 a share, the highest price ever paid for
this stock. The par value is $100, and there are but 3000 shares in
all. The bank declares bi-monthly dividends of 25 per cent. The largest
individual holder of stock is Adda De Talleyrand Perigord, Dutchess De
Deco, formerly Mrs. Stevens, the owner of the Stevens building in Wall
street and other valuable real estate. She holds 500 shares, which are
worth $1,258,500." (Chemical Bank. Chronicle Dispatch; Salt Lake Daily
Tribune, Jan. 11, 1889.)
"Few people of the thousands who daily hurry along lower Broadway
ever stop to notice the dingy, little old hrownstone building, No. 270.
It is only three stories high, is walled in between pretentious
structures, and so narrow that there is scarcely room for two people to
pass abreast through the entrance on Broadway. In gold leaf on the
atorm doors and lettered in the ancient brownstone above the narrow
entrance are the words "Chemical Bank." The little old brownstone
building, that looks as if it was ashamed to be seen in such swell
company as the modern cloud-sweepers that front on all sides of City
Hall Park, is the home of as remarkable a banking institution as is to
be found in the world. Though few notice it in the hurrying throngs its
fame is world-wide, for its shares have touched the highest figure ever
paid for bank stock, $4,900 for $100 par value. The latest quotation
was about $4,500. There are only 3,000 of these high-priced shares in
existence. On this capital stock of $300,000, the Chemical Bank's last
official statement showed deposits of $27,000,000 in round numbers, of
which nearly $20,000,000 belonged to individuals.... The largest
shareholders are Robert and Ogden Goelet, sons of Robert Goelet, the
former director. The younger Robert Goelet is likewise a director. Next
to the Goelets, the Marquise de Talleyrand-Perigord owns the largest
number of shares. The Marquise is the daughter of Director Joseph
Sampson. Her father joined the silent majority about twenty years ago."
(Three Bank Presidents. New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 6, 1891.)
"The Chemical is the bank of the great landed estates of this
country. If there be in America a class corresponding to the "landed
gentry" of England, then the Chemical is its financial institution.
Among the bank's depositors are the Astors, the Goelets, the Roosevelt
estate, the Rhinelander estate, the Lorillards, the Vanderbilts and
some of the wealthiest corporations. The New York Central railroad
keeps its account there. Every month Chauncey M. Depew signs a check
for $800,000 to cover the railroad's payroll, and the Chemical bank's
cashier smilingly hands out the cash. James Gordon Bennett, the elder,
and his son, the present proprietor of The Herald, have deposited with
the Chemical since 1825." "It is no easy matter to open an account
there. The applicant must have a proper introduction, prefereably from
some one who is already identified with the bank. He must tell where he
deposited last and give a good reason why he wants to change. He must
be able to show that the deposit will be one that will 'bear its share
of the expense of the bank' - inother words, a deposit by handling
which the bank can make some money. If the personal character of the
applicant is vouched for and no one of the directors can find any flaw
in him he is received into the select circle of the depositors and
given a bundle of Chemical bank blank checks, with the explicit
understanding that they are not to be used except in case of
necessity." The largest holders "are known to be Robert and Ogden
Goelet, James A. Roosevelt, President George G. Williams, Cashier
William J. Quinlan, Jr., Daniel W. Bishop, a son of Japhet Bishop, one
of the incorporators, and Frederick W. Stevens, the lawyer, who married
Joseph Sampson's daughter." The Chemical bank had only five directors:
President Williams, Cashier Quinlan, James A. Roosevelt, Robert Goelet
and Frederick W. Stevens. (The Chemical Bank. From the New York World.
Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 26, 1893.)
Directors: George G. Williams, James A. Roosevelt, Frederic W.
Stevens, Robert Goelet, and W.J. Quinlan Jr. (Annual Bank Elections.
New York Times, Jan. 12, 1898.)
Directors: George G. Williams, Frederic W. Stevens, W. Emlen
Roosevelt, Augustus D.
Juilliard, George G. De Witt, Robert Walton Goelet, and William H.
Porter. (Financial. New York Times, Jan. 10, 1901; Bank Board
Elections. New York Times, Jan. 15, 1902; Annual
Bank Elections. New York Times, Jan. 14, 1903; Annual Bank Elections.
New York Times, Jan. 13, 1904; Boards of Directors Elected By City
Banks. New York Times, Jan. 11, 1905; Many Bank Changes Result of
Elections. New York Times, Jan. 10, 1906.) In 1907, the directorate was
increased by the election of J.B. Martindale. (Heinzes Get Big Bank
Away From Edwin Gould. New York Times, Jan. 9, 1907.)
William Emlen Roosevelt (1857-1930) was the son of James
Alfred Roosevelt, the head of Roosevelt & Sons, which W. Emlen
Roosevelt joined in 1878. He was a cousin of President Theodore
Roosevelt, and later his financial advisor and the executor of his
estate. The Roosevelt family was among the founders of the Chemical
National Bank, of which W. Emlen Roosevelt was senior director at the
time of his death. "He was active a generation ago in building up the
Mexican Telegraph Company and the Central and South American Telegraph
Company, which later were merged into the All America Cables, Inc., of
whose board Mr. Roosevelt was chairman. In 1927 he participated in the
merging of All America Cables with the International Telephone and
Telegraph Corporation. He remained identified with the cables as a
director of the International." He was a trustee of the Union Trust,
then of the Central Union Trust from the 1918 merger until his death.
He was a trustee, secretary and later
president of the Roosevelt Hospital, which was founded by his uncle,
James Henry Roosevelt. His sons were George Emlen Roosevelt and Philip
Roosevelt, both members of Roosevelt & Sons; and John Kean
Roosevelt, vice president of All-American Cables. (W.E. Roosevelt Dies.
May 16, 1930.) He believed that "The hospital should be 'a service
station, not a repair shop,'" and thought that diseases of the heart,
kidneys and circulation were curable by contemporary means. (Public
Service of Hospitals. By W. Emlen Roosevelt. New York Times, Oct. 23,
1921.) John Kean Roosevelt married Annette Weinacht. Her father, Edward
Weinacht, had been arrested in England for trading with the enemy, but
not convicted. (J. Kean Roosevelt Weds. New York Times, Sep. 23, 1916.)
George
Emlen Roosevelt was a director of the
Guaranty Trust, which funded the Nazis during the late 1930s and during
World War II through I.T.&T.
William Emlen Roosevelt's mother was Elizabeth Norris Emlen,
daughter of
William Fishbourne Emlen of Philadelphia. (Mrs. J.A. Roosevelt Dead.
New York Times, Apr. 14, 1912.) She was a Royal descendant of Henry
III, King of England. (Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles Henry
Browning, 1891, p. 353.)
Charles Cheney of South Manchester, Conn., was added to the board.
(Bank Changes Made At Annual Meetings. New York Times, Jan. 10, 1912.)
Directors ca. 1912: Frederic W. Stevens, Augustus D. Juilliard, Henry P. Davison, Charles
Cheney, W. Emlen Roosevelt, Robert Walton Goelet, William H. Porter,
and Joseph B. Martindale. (History of the Chemical Bank, 1823-1913. By
Chemical Bank and Trust Company, p. 125.)
Directors: Frederic W. Stevens, W. Emlen Roosevelt, Augustus D.
Juilliard, Robert Walton Goelet, William H. Porter, Charles Cheney,
Arthur Iselin, Joseph B. Martindale (President), and Herbert K.
Twitchell (Vice President). Francis Halpin was Cashier, and James L.
Parson amd Edward H. Smith, Assistant Cashiers. (Display Ad. New York
Sun, Jan. 17, 1915.)
"The merger is a continuation of the program of expansion begun by
the Chemical National two years ago. At that time, after standing
almost isolated in its position against paying interest on deposits,
the management decided to pay interest, and the deposits expanded
steadily thereafter. Shortly after this change was made Mr. Johnston
came from Louisville, Ky., as a Vice President." Directors of the
Chemical: Frederic W. Stevens, W. Emlen Roosevelt, Robert Walton
Goelet, Charles Cheney, Arthur Iselin, Frederic A. Juilliard, Ridley
Watts, Charles A. Corliss, Herbert K. Twitchell, and Percy H. Johnston.
Edwin S. Schenck, President of Citizens, became a Vice President.
Directors of the Citizens were Schenck, Robert B. Hirsch, Ralph L.
Cutter, Darwin P. Kingsley, William S. Gray, William Fellowes Morgan,
Charles L. Bernheimer, Charles Allen Munn, Frank Presbrey, Garrard
Comly, Otto L. Dommerich, Walton P. Kingsley, Howard F. Clark, Henry A.
Caesar, and John A. Garver. (Chemical Bank to Absorb Citizens'. New
York Times, Mar. 19, 1920.)
Directors: Percy H. Johnston, Chairman, Executive Committee; Frank
K. Houston, Honorary Chairman of the Board; Robert Goelet, Real Estate;
Frederic Stevens Allen, Trustee; J.H. Hillman Jr., Industrialist; N.
Baxter Jackson, Chairman; Joseph A. Bower, Chairman, Trust Committee;
Thomas H. Williams, Ichabod T. Williams & Sons; Clarence G. Stoll,
Director, Pennsylvania Research Corporation; John K. Roosevelt,
Roosevelt & Son; Henry Upham Harris, Partner, Harris, Upham &
Company; Harold H. Helm, President; W. Ross McCain, Chairman of the
Board, Aetna Insurance Group; H.E. Humphreys Jr., Chairman and
President, United States Rubber; Cason J. Callaway, Farmer; Robert J.
McKim, President, Associated Dry Goods; Frederick E. Hasler, Chairman,
Haytian American Sugar Company, S.A.; Joseph T. Lykes, Chairman, Lykes
Bros. Steamship Co. Inc.; Stanley Bracken, President, Western Electric;
Maurice T. Moore, Cravath,
Swaine & Moore; James Bruce,
New York; J. Albert Woods, President, Commercial Solvents Corp.;
Benjamin F. Few, President, Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company; Robert
G. Goelet, Real Estate; James B. Black, President, Pacific Gas &
Electric Co. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 5, 1954.)
Directors: Frank K. Houston, Honorary Chairman of the Board; N.
Baxter Jackson, Chairman, Executive Committee; John K. Roosevelt,
Roosevelt & Son; Henry Upham Harris, Partner, Harris, Upham &
Co.; Harold H. Helm, Chairman; H.E. Humphreys Jr., Chairman, United
States Rubber; Cason J. Callaway, Farmer; Adrian M. Massie, Chairman,
Trust Committee; Robert J. McKim, Chairman of the Board, Associated Dry
Goods Co.; Maurice T. Moore, Partner, Cravath, Swain & Moore;
Richard K. Paynter Jr., Executive Vice President, New York Life
Insurance Co.; J. Albert Woods, New York; Benjamin F. Few, President,
Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.; Robert G. Goelet, Real Estate; Hulbert
S. Aldrich, Vice Chairman; James B. Black, chairman of the Board,
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.; Percy L. Douglas, Executive Vice
President, Otis Elevator Co.; Gilbert H. Perkins, Vice Chairman; Isaac
B. Grainger, President; Arthur K. Watson, President, IBM World Trade
Corp.; Roy F. Coppedge Jr., National Distillers and Chemical Corp.;
Kenneth E. Black, President The Home Insurance Co.; Henry L. Hillman,
Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical Co.; Charles H. Kellstadt, Sears,
Roebuck & Co.; H.I. Romnes,
President, Western Electric Co. Inc. Advisory Committee: Robert A
Drysdale, Senior Partner, Drysdale & Co.; Dunham B. Sherer, New
York; C. Walter Nichols, Chairman, Nichols Engineering & Research
Corp.; Robert Goelet, Real Estate; Joseph A. Bower, Retired; Thomas R.
Williams, President, Ichabod T. Williams & Son Inc.; John R.
McWilliam, Retired; W. Ross McCain, Hartford; Graham H. Anthony,
Executive Committee, Veeder-Root, Inc.; Frederick E. Hasler, Haytian
American Sugar Co. S.A.; James Bruce, Industrialist; William P.
Worthington, President, Home Life Insurance Co. Harold H. Helm was
Chairman; Adrian M. Massie was Chairman, Trust Committee; Gilbert H.
Perkins and Hulbert S. Aldrich, Vice Chairmen. John L. Gibbons, Clinton
C. Johnson, Howard W. McCall Jr., and William S. Renchard, Executive
Vice Presidents, and Willis McDonald, Senior Vice President. (Display
Ad. New York Times, Sep. 9, 1959.)
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