Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.

In January 1899, the majority of stock of the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. was sold to Mr. Butler of the Union Tobacco Company by Moses C. Wetmore, Charles E. Halliwell, Samuel T. McCormick, Mrs. Claude Kilpatrick, Mrs. John Fowler, and Mrs. John E. Liggett for $6.5 million cash. Wetmore was to continue as president and general manager for five years, and George S. Myers kept his shares. (Big Tobacco Deal. Morning Oregonian, Feb. 5, 1899. A.A. Housman & Co. attached the trustees of the will of John E. Liggett for $277,200 in commissions on the sale of 550½ shares of stock of the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company to George P. Butler. Claude Kilpatrick, John Fowler, and Mitchell Scott were the trustees. "The Sheriff served the attachment upon the Central Trust Company." (The Liggitt [sic] and Myers Sale. New York Times, Apr.22, 1899.)

Caleb C. Dula

Caleb Conley Dula (1864-1930) was President of Liggett & Meyers Tobacco Co. from 1911-1927, then Chairman until 1930. He joined the Drummond Tobacco Co. in 1886, and after it was bought by the American Tobacco Co., he joined the Continental Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of American. Dula was a close friend of James B. Duke, and in 1927, Dula added $200,000 to the Duke Endowment Fund at Duke University. Dula was on the board of directors of the Guaranty Trust from 1916 until 1930. (Caleb C. Dula Dies; Tobacco Financier. New York Times, Dec. 26, 1930.) Dula's stockholdings included 2,176 George W. Helme Co. common, $167,824; 40,620 Liggett & Myers common $3,269,910; 49,320 Liggett & Myers common B $4,019,580; 2,313 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. common $94,977; 1,400 U.S. Tobacco Co. common, $83,300; 500 Congress Cigar $11,000; and 300 General Cigar $9,825. He also had 2,057 shares of the Guaranty Trust Company, of which he was a director, $871,179, and a cash deposit there of $1,006,672. He had a joint brokerage with T.B. Yuille, and was a founder of the Hudson River Country Club with his neighbor, Col. William Boyce Thompson. He left it all to his widow. (C.C. Dula's Estate Worth $14,831,387. New York Times, Mar. 24, 1934.) His older brother, Robert B. Dula (~1849-1926), started the tobacco firm of Carr & Dula in Missouri shortly after the Civil War. He became associated with the Drummond Tobacco Co. and headed it from 1886 to 1898, when it was sold to the American Tobacco Company. In 1903, he became a Vice President of American, and, when this company was broken up in 1911, he continued as a director of Liggett & Myers. (R.B. Dula, Pioneer in Tobacco, Dead. New York Times, Apr. 28, 1926.) Dula was a director of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company in 1901. Clinton W. Toms succeeded him as president of L&M.

In 1935, Clinton W. Toms was the largest stockholder among officers and directors of Liggett & Myers, with 17,500 common and 1000 preferred. Other officers and directors: J.W. Andrews, vice president, 3800 common, 837 common B; W.D. Carmichael, vice president, 100 preferred, 1966 common, 334 common B; W.W. Flowers, 14,300 common, 60 common B; E.H. Thurston, 3000 common; G.W. Whitaker, 5 preferred, 7500 common; E.T. Noland, secretary, 5154 common; Ben Carroll, treasurer, 2426 common, 280 common B; C.B. Arthur, assistant treasurer, 124 preferred, 500 common, 726 common B; R.W. Frishell, branch manager, 100 common, 636 common B; D.F. Green, sales manager, 760 common, 843 common B; W.S. Tisdel, assistant treasurer, 2500 common, 20 common B; R.B. Fleming, assistant treasurer, 500 preferred, 252 common, 88 common B; E.S. Abbott, assistant auditor, 134 common B; H.E. White, 40 common B. (Toms Chief Holder in Liggett-Myers. New York Times, May 2, 1935.)

Clinton W. Toms

Clinton White Toms (~1869-1936) was born in Hertford, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1889. By 1894, he was Superintendant of Schools in Durham, NC. In 1897, James B. Duke made him general manager of the American Tobacco Company's works in Durham. He became executive vice president and a director of the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company when it was organized after the breakup of the Trust in 1911. In 1928, he succeeded Caleb C. Dula as president. (C.W. Toms Dead; Tobacco Leader. New York Times, Aug. 30, 1936.) His sons Edgar S. Toms and Zach Toms were also with L&M.

Edgar S. Toms (~1899-1952) "His entire business career was spent with the tobacco concern, first in Philadelphia and later at Durham, where he became a director and general manager." (Edgar S. Toms. New York Times, Mar. 24, 1952.)

Zach Toms

Zach Toms (1901-1964) was born in Durham, N.C. He graduated from the University of Virginia after an interruption for Army service in World War I, and went on to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Liggett & Myers in 1922 in Richmond, and became a factory superintendant and assistant factory manager. He moved to its executive offices in New York in 1943 as assistant to the vice president for manufacturing and leaf. In 1951, he was vice president for export sales; executive vice president in 1959; president in 1961; chief executive officer in 1963, and chairman in 1964. (Zach Toms Sr., Chief Officer Of Liggett & Myers, Dies at 63. New York Times, Jul. 10, 1964.) He was a member of the Sevens Society of the University of Richmond, which was founded "possibly" in 1905. The names of 77 of its members who had died were revealed in 1957. "The tolling of the University carillon - in seven mournful tones - lifts the hood of secrecy long enough to proclaim a death among its members. This, plus the unique arrangement of magnolia leaves and white flowers atop the coffin, and the Society's sign by the obituary in the alumni magazine are the only public recognition a member can receive." Besides Toms, the list includes former Secretary of State Edward J. Stettinius Jr., Adm. William F. Halsey, and Henry N. Taylor, a news correspondent killed in the Congo. (Seven Society's Secret Still Secret. Washington Post, Feb. 15, 1965.)

Bethuel M. Webster Jr.

Bethuel M Webster Jr. graduated from Harvard Law School in 1924 and was an assistant to U.S. Attorney Emory R. Buckner (Buckner Picks 11 More Aids. New York Times, Feb. 23, 1926.) He was the son of Bethuel M. Webster, an attorney in Denver, Col. (Miss Eleanor Ashton Wilson to Be Married Today. Washington Post, Mar. 16, 1929.) He was general counsel of the Federal Radio Commission. (Radio License Held Not Transferable. New York Times, Jul. 24, 1929.) "Mr. Justice Brennan, in his concurring opinion in the Head case, 374 U.S. at 439, noted that: * * * As early as 1928, for example, the General Counsel of the Radio Commission held that abuses in network cigarette advertising — while not a sufficient basis for revocation proceedings against an individual licensee — might on renewal militate against the requisite finding of broadcasting in the 'public interest.'' The opinion also notes (n.15) that: 'Shortly after the issuance of the General Counsel's opinion, the Chairman of the Federal Radio Commission was asked by Senator Dill during his appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee whether he thought the Commission had sufficient power 'through its power of regulation and its determination of public interest to handle objectionable advertising?' The Chairman replied, 'I think so, Senator Dill, because we have had little trouble about it, even without direct power.' * * * Hearings before Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce on S. 6, 71st Cong., 1st sess., pt. 6, p. 230. See also Hearings before Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce on S. 6, 71st Cong., 1st and 2d sess., pp. 88-89. The particular complaint leading to the General Counsel's opinion charged, inter alia, that 'the object of this broadcasting is to transform 20 million adolescent boys and girls into confirmed cigarette addicts by creating a vast child market for cigarettes in the United States,' that '10 million boys throughout the country are being viciously and deliberately misled by paid testimonials, secured from professional athletes, football coaches and others, definitely suggesting the use of cigarettes as an aid to athletic prowess,' that 'the medical opinion of the country is being continuously misrepresented to support the health and medical claims made for cigarettes,' that the specific claims made for a particular brand of cigarette advertised on the air are overwhelmingly opposed by established health and medical facts,' and that "Such radio activities, the petitioner maintains, are clearly contrary to public interest, public welfare and public health.' Opinion No. 32, 1928-1929 Opinions of the General Counsel, Federal Radio Commission, 77, at 78 (Apr. 15, 1929.) General Counsel Bethuel M. Webster, Jr. concluded that the 'Commission may find, in view of this showing, that public interest, convenience, and necessity will not be served by further renewal of the licenses in question, in which case the matter will be set for hearing pursuant to section 11, and petitioner's prayer for general relief will be granted,' Id., at 82." (In: Federal Communications Communications Commission. Applicability of the Fairness Doctrine to Cigarette Advertising. Memorandum Opinion and Order. In the Matter of Television Station WCBS-TV, New York, N.Y., RM-1170; FCC 67-1029. Federal Register 1967 Sep. 15;32(179):13162-13174.)

Bethuel M. Webster was an usher at the wedding of Horace R. Lamb, a law partner of William J. Donovan and later a founder of LeBoeuf, Lamb & Leiby. Other ushers included Edward S. Pinney and U.S. Representative Lewis Williams Douglas, later president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. (Mrs. Hoover Sees Miss Pitney Wed. New York Times, Feb. 9, 1930; Lamb-Pitney Rite Attended By First Lady. Washington Post, Feb. 9, 1930.) Webster was a member of the Federal Broadcasting Corporation, which acquired the commercial and program presentation rights of New York City radio station WMCA. The group included John T. Adams; Howard G. Cushing; Major Talbot O. Freeman; Walter S. Mack Jr., later the president of Pepsi-Cola; A. Newbold Morris; Paul Nitze; James K. Norris, Allan A. Ryan Jr.; Clendenin J. Ryan Jr.; Robert Thayer; and John Hay Whitney, with former N.Y. Governor Alfred E. Smith as chairman. (Smith Heads Board of New WMCA Group. New York Times, Aug. 28, 1933.) Webster represented Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company in the appeal of its 1940 anti-trust conviction. (U.S. Supreme Court. AMERICAN TOBACCO CO. v. UNITED STATES, 328 U.S. 781 (1946) 328 U.S. 781.)

Webster had been a member of the board of trustees of the Public Education Association for twelve years when he was elected chairman. Fellow trustees included James F. Brownlee, a partner of J.H. Whitney & Co. [and a trustee of the Ford Foundation 1953-60]. (Bethuel Webster, Leading Attorney Here, Succeeds Mrs. Lewisohn in Education Unit. New York Times, Jul. 2, 1954.) Fundraisers for the P.E.A. during this time included Mary Woodard Lasker and other members of the Woodard family. In 1953, the board of the Ford Foundation chose Webster as counsel to its Fund for the Republic, with Paul G. Hoffman as Chairman. (Security With Freedom and Justice. The Ford Foundation.) In 1961, Webster and J. Irwin Miller, chairman of Cummins Engine Company, were elected trustees of the Ford Foundation. (Ford Fund Elects Two. New York Times, Jun. 27, 1961.) In 1970, Seattle lawyer James R. Ellis, and Walter A. Haas Jr., president of the Levi Strauss Company, replaced Webster and Stephen D. Bechtel as trustees. (Lawyer and Manufacturer Join Ford Foundation Board. New York Times, Dec. 20, 1970.)

In 1958, Bethuel M. Webster was a member of New York City Mayor Wagner's new Health Research Council. Other members included James S. Adams of Lazard Freres & Co.; Dr. Leona Baumgartner, Commissioner, Department of Health; Devereux C. Josephs, chairman of the board of the New York Life Insurance Company and a director of the Morgan Guaranty Trust; Dr. Mervin J. Kelly, president of Bell Telephone Laboratories; Mrs. Mary Lasker, president of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation; Dr. Robert K. Merton, Professor of Sociology at Columbia University; Gerard Piel, publisher of Scientific American; Anna M. Rosenberg, public and industrial relations consultant, Anna M. Rosenberg Associates (who married Paul G. Hoffman a few years later); and Dr. Warren Weaver, vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation. (New City Research Agency To Finance Health Studies. By Peter Kihss. New York Times, Sep. 17, 1958 p. 1; Members of Health Council. New York Times, Sep. 17, 1958 p. 22.)

Bethuel M. Webster and his law partner Frederick P. Haas were the New York attorneys for Liggett & Myers in the lawsuit by Otto E. Pritchard in Pittsburgh. (A Suit By Smoker Over Cancer Is On. By Russell Porter. New York Times, Apr. 5, 1960.) In 1962, Bethuel M. Webster, partner in the New York law firm of Webster, Sheffield, Fleischmann, Hitchcock & Chrystie, was elected to the board of directors of General American Investors Company, Inc. "Mr. Webster, a trustee of the Ford Foundation, was president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration under The Hague Convention, the New York City Health Research Council and the Mayor's Committee on the Judiciary." (Lawyer Joins Board of Investors Concern. New York Times, Nov. 17, 1962.)

"The Lindsay inner circle is small and about half family. Besides [Herbert] Brownell and Webster, he relies heavily on the advice of Robert Price, a young New York lawyer who has been his campaign manager. He also sees a good deal of his twin brother, David, and older brother, Robert, a vice president of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company." (Big Gamble of John Vliet Lindsay. By Warren Weaver Jr. New York Times, May 23, 1965.) Bethuel M. Webster "sponsored the Mayor's early legal career, and served as head of his transition task force." Lindsay's outer inner circle included Andrew Heiskell, chairman of the board of Time, Inc.; and Walter N. Thayer, lawyer, investment banker, and former president of the New York Herald Tribune. (The Lindsay Inner Circle. By Martin Arnold. New York Times, Oct. 15, 1967.) Lindsay joined Webster, Sheffield in 1948, and rejoined the firm after leaving office. "His senior partner is Bethuel M. Webster, and over the years Mr. Lindsay has regarded Mr. Webster as a kind of surrogate father." Webster, Sheffield's biggest client was the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. (About New York. By John Corry. New York Times, Nov. 6, 1974.) John V. Lindsay's twin brother David A. Lindsay was a member of Skull & Bones 1944. John V. Lindsay graduated from Yale ahead of him.

A differential cigarette tax was created by an amendment to Article 2-A(c) of the Cigarette Tax Law Regulations for The New York City Administrative Code promulgated by the Finance Administrator of the Ciiy of New York. The amendment was promulgated on December 18, 1972 to be effective on January 27, 1973. It required that cigarettes sold in vending machines in the City of New York be sold at five cents differential between "low tar" cigarettes and all other cigarettes regardless of whether the latter were subject to a three or four cents additional tax. The State Legislature authorized the city to tax cigarettes in 1952, and enabled the differential tax in 1971. (Long Island Tobacco Co., Inc., Maurice Bronstein D/B/A Allied Cigarette Sales and Robert Bogats D/B/A/ B & B Vending Co., Plaintiffs - Appellants, Against John V. Lindsay, As Mayor of the City of New York and Richard Lewisohn As Finance Administrator of the City of New York, Defendants-Respondents Brief for Plaintiffs - Appellants.)

Webster was chairman of the Council on Drug Abuse, set up by four foundations (Ford, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Commonwealth Fund, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation), to which the Ford Foundation contributed $2 million of its $2.5 million funding. (Four Foundations Set Up A Foundation On Drug Abuse. New York Times, Feb. 16, 1972.) "In 1934, he founded the firm that grew into Webster & Sheffield. Mr. Webster became senior counsel in 1984. After World War II, Mr. Webster served as a special advisor to the High Commissioner of Germany, where he was engaged in decartelization of German industries. Under the military government, he enforced the antitrust laws and reorganized the coal and steel monopolies. From 1959 to 1965, he served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. From 1965 to 1968, he was an ambassador for the United States in the mediation of a territorial dispute between Britain and Guatemala over British Honduras." (Bethuel M. Webster, 88, Founder of Law Firm and Lindsay Advisor. New York Times, Aug. 1, 1989.)

Francis H. Horan

Francis Harding Horan (1900-1978) was born in Saxtons River, Vermont. He graduated from Dartmouth University in 1922, and Harvard Law School in 1926. He joined the firm of Simpson, Thacher & Barlett, which he left in 1929 to be an assistant to US Solicitor General Thomas Day Thacher, Skull & Bones 1904. In 1932, he became assistant chief in the tax division of the Department of Justice. In 1934, he was chief of the civil division of the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York, under Martin Conboy. [His service with Conboy included the attempt to ban "Ulysses" and other films for obscenity, acquiescing to the Soviet Union's nationalization decree, and deportations of immigrants for minor past offenses. As a Dartmouth alumnus, he favored eliminating the independence of the student newspaper, of which he had been editor.] In 1940, he was appointed counsel to the Moreland Commission by Governor Herbert H. Lehman. He was general counsel of Liggett & Myers from 1951 until retiring in 1965, when he returned to his former law firm of Webster, Sheffield & Horan as counsel. (Francis Harding Horan, 78, Dies; Former Liggett & Myers Counsel. New York Times, Jan. 1, 1979.) From 1942 to 1951, he was a partner in the law firm of Webster, Sheffield & Horan, when he was appointed general counsel of L&M. He was elected a trustee of the New York School of Social Work in 1953. (Liggett & Myers Names A New General Counsel. New York Times, Aug. 27, 1951; Elected as a Trustee Of Social Work School. New York Times, Jun. 1, 1953.) He became a director of L&M in 1954, and a vice president in 1956. (Liggett & Myers Tobacco Names General Counsel. New York Times, Apr. 8, 1954; Elected Vice President By Liggett & Myers Co. New York Times, Jan. 5, 1956.) His wife, Elizabeth Selden Rogers, was also an assistant to Martin Conboy. She graduated from Vassar in 1928, and Yale Law School in 1931, when she was appointed to the State Department by Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson, S&B 1888 (his father-in-law's brother-in-law). She was a daughter of Dr. John Rogers, Skull & Bones 1887, and Elizabeth Selden (White), of the National Woman's Party. (Elizabeth S. Rogers Will Be Bride Today. New York Times, Feb. 9, 1935; Dr. John Rogers, 73, Surgeon, Dies Here. New York Times, Nov. 20, 1939; Elizabeth Horan Dies; A Former City Counsel. New York Times, Apr. 6, 1984.)

Frederick Sheffield

Frederick Sheffield (1902-1971), who joined Bethuel M. Webster to form the law firm which became Webster Sheffield Fleischmann Hitchcock & Chrystie, was a director of Liggett & Myers from 1961 until his death in 1971. His father was James Rockwell Sheffield, who was a member of the advisory board of the Yale Institute of Human Relations. Frederick Sheffield's mother was a granddaughter of David Tod, governor of Ohio during the Civil War. His wife, Carolyn Cornell Blair, was the great-grand-daughter of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University. Frederick Sheffield graduated from Yale in 1924, and from Yale Law School in 1927. He was a member of Scroll & Keys, and was associated with the law firm of Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardiner & Reed. (Troth Announced of Carolyn Blair. New York Times, Oct. 18, 1934.) Kenneth A. Ives was best man at his wedding, and the ushers were David Tod Bulkley, George A. Brownell, Frederick A.O. Schwarz of New York; J. Stillman Rockefeller of Greenwich, Richard C. Storey Jr. and Harrison Gardner of Boston. (Carolyn C. Blair Has Church Bridal. New York Times, Nov. 23, 1935.) Sheffield succeeded Morris Hadley, S&B 1916, as chairman of the board of trustees of the New York School of Social Work [which became the Columbia University School of Social Work in 1963]. He was a trustee since 1946 of the Community Service Society, which founded the school in 1898 [as the New York School of Philanthropy until 1917]. He was also a director of the Bank of the Manhattan Company and the F.A.O. Schwarz Company, treasurer of St. Luke's Hospital, and a trustee of the Trudeau Sanitarium. (Lawyer Heads Trustees Of School of Social Work. New York Times, Feb. 1, 1950.) He was a director of the American Sugar Refining Co., the Chase Manhattan Bank, and F.A.O. Schwarz. (American Sugar Adds Lawyer to Directorate. New York Times, Oct. 21, 1961.) He rowed on the Yale crew that represented the U.S. in the 1924 Olympics. As a lawyer, he represented Columbia University and the New York Public Library. "He was a fellow of Pierson College of Yale University,one-time chairman of the Yale rowing committee and a former member of the University Athletic Board of Control. He served as assistant United States Commissioner for the New York World's Fair in 1940. He was a former chairman of the board of the New School for Social Research. Mr. Sheffield was a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital Center and Trudeau Institute and former of Smith College and the Community Service Society." He was board chairman of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1966 to 1971. (Frederick Sheffield Dies at 69; Lawyer Headed Carnegie Fund. New York Times, May 10, 1971.) One of the projects funded by the Carnegie Corporation during his tenure was the Children's Television Workshop. His son was James Rockwell Sheffield, Skull & Bones 1959. (Nancy J. Wilkinson Fiancee Of James Rockwell Sheffield. New York Times, Jan. 26, 1964; Miss Wilkinson Attended by 5 At Her Nuptials. New York Times, Jun. 28, 1964.) James R. Sheffield was an usher at the marriage of Frederick A.O. Schwarz's son H. Marshall Schwarz to Jane Trowbridge Gillespie, a granddaughter of Lansing P. Reed, S&B 1904. (Jane T. Gillespie Becomes Bride On Long Island. New York Times, Jun. 21, 1962.) Frederick A.O. Schwartz was a trustee of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital from at least 1944 to 1957, when he became acting president after Charles Proctor Cooper.

1962 Tobacco Industry Research Council Scientific Advisory Board Meeting

"1. The Scientific Advisory Board meeting this Friday was attended by Carl Thompson. They made more grants and analized what has been accomplished.

"2. Ogden White, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Sloan Kettering and Memorial Hospital reported that the R. J. Reynolds Company had agreed to grant a $100 thousand to Sloan Kettering. It could indicate that Reynolds feels here's a little protection or TIRC hasn't done too much. Reynolds wanted a raw products center for the industry, claiming that TIRC should be interested in agriculture as well as health (They control 35 - 40% of the TIRC funds). American Tobacco vetoed this because they couldn't be connected with any leaf industry. Reynolds then bought a farm and formed their own raw products research center. Sloan Kettering will be the logical one to investigate cancer claims. P. Lorillard has been giving $25,000 for years without any fanfare. They are going to approach other tobacco companies, automotive companies, milk companies, and anyone else with an interest in the cancer controversy. Right now we are committed to the TIRC concept. Reynolds by working with Sloan Kettering might see developments as they come about. They might get a new dimension to their research. Mr. Wynder will be out in April with a paper which says there is something in filters which is selective and safe. The agency was alerted that this paper might come out and asked to think of anything which might be exploitable. The marketing department has been alerted to play on the selectrate trademark of Marlboro. There is talk that the FCC might lift the ban on health claims in ads." (From James Bowling Area, Philip Morris, Mar. 13, 1962.) Ogden White joined the board of directors of Liggett & Myers in 1968.

In 1963, Howard W. McCall Jr. and Frank Talbott were elected directors of L&M. McCall was vice chairman of the Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, and a director of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Co., the Association of Reserve City Bankers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, Inc. Talbott was chairman of Dan River Mills, Inc., textile manufacturer, and senior partner in the Danville, Va. law firm of Talbott, Wheatley & Talbott. He was a director of the Iselin-Jefferson Co., the Life Insurance Company of Virginia, and the American National Bank and Trust Co., Danville. (Two Named by Liggett & Myers. New York Times, Dec. 19, 1963.)

Zach Toms was named chairman and Milton E. Harrington became president. J. Bowling Anderson and Loy D. Thompson became senior vice presidents, and Jonathan W. Old Jr. became vice presidents. Harrington joined the company in 1934, and became a director in 1955, and vice president in 1960. Anderson joined the company in 1934, became treasurer in 1958, and vice president in charge of finance in 1961. Old joined the company in 1947, became factory superintendant in 1953, and assistant to the vice president for manufacturing in 1959. (Liggett & Myers Elects Officers. New York Times, Apr. 2, 1964.)

Frederick Peter Haas, Skull & Bones 1935

Frederick P. Haas graduated from Yale, Skull & Bones 1935, and Yale Law School, and served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II. He joined Webster, Sheffield in 1946, and became a partner in 1948. Haas and law partner Bethuel M. Webster were the New York attorneys for Liggett & Myers in the lawsuit by Otto E. Pritchard in Pittsburgh. (A Suit By Smoker Over Cancer Is On. By Russell Porter. New York Times, Apr. 5, 1960.) He was appointed general counsel of Liggett & Myers when Francis H. Horan retired in 1965. (Legal Post Is Filled By Liggett & Myers. New York Times, May 19, 1965.) He was appointed vice president in 1967. (Vice President Named By Liggett & Myers. New York Times, Aug. 22, 1967.) He was elected to the board of directors and remained with the company until 1976. (Frederick Haas, 85, Ex-Counsel at Liggett. New York Times, Oct. 4, 1997.) Ushers at his wedding included William Skinner Kilborne and John Eliot Bowles of New York; Stanley Evert Fuller of Akron, Ohio; Charles Seymour Jr. of Washington, DC; Joseph H. Johnson of Hartford, Conn., and Lyman Spitzer Jr. of New Haven, all S&B 1935; and classmates Richard Hine Lynch and James Edward Spalding. (Miss Mary Helen Parke Wed to Frederick Peter Haas In Ceremony at New Haven. New York Times, Feb. 9, 1941.) Haas was an usher at the weddings of Lynch and Spalding. (Judith Enwright New Haven Bride. New York Times, Jul. 31, 1949; Mary Waterbury A Bride in Darien. New York Times, Jun. 5, 1955.) His father, John G. Haas, Yale 1903, was an associate counsel of the Travelers Insurance Co., then a member of the legal staff of the Association of Life Insurance Presidents. (John G. Haas. New York Times, Dec. 21, 1937.) His brother, John George Haas 3d, married a daughter of Rev. Dr. Rockwell Harmon Potter, Dean of the Hartford Theological Seminary. (Miss Jean Potter Becomes A Bride. New York Times, Aug. 9, 1933.)

Ogden White

Earl G. Graves

Earl Gilbert Graves, President of Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., was elected to the board of directors in 1971. He was a former aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and coordinator for minority groups in the Humphrey/Muskie presidential campaign. (Humphrey Aide Named. New York Times, Oct. 15,1968.) Graves was one of five former RFK aides who received grants from the Ford Foundation under McGeorge Bundy, Skull & Bones 1940. "Rep. John Byrnes (R-Wis) referred to it acidly as 'severance pay.'" (5 RFK Aides Defend Grants. By Bruce Galphin. Washington Post Times Herald Feb. 27, 1969.) Graves founded Black Enterprise magazine at the end of 1969, with a $175,000 loan from the Chase Manhattan Bank. Its advertisers included United Air Lines, U.S. Steel, and IBM. (Among the Media. By Ronald L. Soble. LA Times, Apr. 9, 1974.) Graves helped with funding for the National Medical Fellowship when its grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Jr. and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ran out. (Minority Scholarship Organization To Halve Aid for Medical Students. (New York Times, Jul. 16, 1975.) He was a director of ITT from 1977 to 1981. (Earl G. Graves Is Named to ITT Board of Directors. Washington Post, Dec. 20, 1977; Executive Changes. New York Times, Mar. 13, 1981.) In 1984, he was elected to the board of Rohm and Haas. "Mr. Graves serves as a Director of Aetna, Inc., AMR Corporation (American Airlines), DaimlerChrysler AG Corporation, Federated Department Stores, Inc., and Rohm & Haas Corporation. In addition, Mr. Graves serves as a volunteer on the boards of TransAfrica Inc. and the American Museum of Natural History and Planetarium." (The Biography of Dr. Earl G. Graves. Howard University, 2003.)

His son, Earl Gilbert Graves Jr., is a member of Skull & Bones 1984. (Roberta A. Daly Becomes a Bride in Philadelphia. New York Times, Sep. 11, 1988.) He is President and Chief Operating Officer for Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine. He is a director of AutoZone Inc. and Premier Automotive Group, and the Board of Advisors of Channel Thirteen (WNET).

In 1976, Fred P. Haas retired, and his law partner William H. Hogeland of Webster Sheffield was appointed General Counsel. In 1977, Roger W. Hooker Jr., former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, was elected Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs and Secretary; and Charlotte T. Reid, former U.S. Representative 1962-71 and Federal Communications Commissioner 1971-76, was elected a director.

Bennett LeBow and Carl C. Icahn of Icahn & Co., Inc. were partners of The Brooke Group, which owned the former Liggett & Myers Tobacco and Liggett Ducat in Russia, and also a major interest in the investment banking firm New Valley. The Brooke Group also held 4.6% of RJR Nabisco voting stock. (Do It Now. By Ronald A. Margulis. Tobacconist Apr. 8, 1996.)

Brooke Group announced its settlement of tobacco-related claims with the states of Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and West Virginia. With Orwellian verbiage, they declared that "The five states and the Castano plaintiffs have agreed that they will not seek to enjoin the spinoff of Nabisco to RJR Nabisco shareholders if Brooke's nominees are elected to the RJR Nabisco Board of Directors." (Brooke Agrees to Settle Tobacco Litigation With 5 States. Press Release, Mar. 15, 1996.) The nominees included Ronald Folford, the former CEO of Imperial Tobacco; and Dale Hanson, who had been employed by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board before serving as the CEO of CalPERS from 1987 to 1994, then American Partners Capital Group. (Former Calpers Chief Joining ICN's Board. By Edward Wyatt.New York Times, Aug. 23, 1995.) Hanson had also been retained by Philip Morris in 1994, "to offer advice in developing an on-going strategy to deal with certain public pension funds." (Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors of Philip Morris Companies Inc., Oct. 26, 1994.)

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