Lorillard Tobacco Company

"The Lorillard house was first organized in 1760. Since that time, with one exception of eighteen months, there has been a "P. Lorillard" at the head of the firm. That exception occurred while a minor was being given his majority by a special act of the legislature. The fifth P. Lorillard is now at the head of the company. The first firm was P. & G. Lorillard, then P. Lorillard & Co. until 1891 they were incorporated as a stock company with a capital of $5,000,000 for the purpose of allowing the operatives to control stock to the amount of $2,000,000. The present officers of the company are: P. Lorillard, president; George D. Finlay, vice president and treasurer, and Ethan Allen, secretary." (Winning New Laurels. Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 5, 1895.)

Pierre Lorillard

The fourth Pierre Lorillard (1833-1901) was the son of the third. He married Emily Taylor, the daughter of Dr. Isaac Taylor, one of the founders of Bellevue Hospital Medical College. (Pierre Lorillard Dead. New York Times, July 8, 1901.) Lorillard had deposits at the Chemical National Bank, the Garfield Bank, the Commercial Trust Company of New Jersey, and with his banker in England, Weatherby. He owned 4000 shares of the Continental Tobacco Company, and also had many shares of the Tuxedo Park Association and the Pressed Steel Car Company. (Pierre Lorillard's Estate. Dec. 14, 1901; Report on Lorillard Will. New York Times, Aug. 15, 1902.) Lorillard director George D. Finlay was an executor of his estate. Pierre Lorillard Jr., president of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, wrote Chapter 61, "American Tobacco Factories," in "1795-1895 One Hundred Years of American Commerce," edited by Chauncey M. Depew, Skull & Bones 1856 (New York, D.O. Haynes & Co., 1895.)

S. Sloan Colt, President of the Bankers Trust Company, was an usher at the funeral of fellow Tuxedo resident Pierre Lorillard, the former head of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company. (Pierre Lorillard Buried. New York Times, Aug. 9, 1940.) He was the fifth Pierre Lorillard. He was with Lorillard until the merger with the American Tobacco Company. His first wife, the former Caroline Jaffray Hamilton, died in 1909 at their home in Washington, D.C. In 1931, he married Ruth Hill Beard, the daughter of James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railroad. He was survived by a sixth Pierre Lorillard. (Pierre Lorillard Dies in Tuxedo, 80. New York Times, Aug. 7, 1940.)

George D. Finlay

George Dick Finlay (~1849 -1925) was a director of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company in the 1890s, and one of the executors of Pierre Lorillard's will. He was a director of the Commercial Trust Company of New Jersey, whose other directors included George G. Haven, James N. Jarvie, and Richard A. McCurdy of the Guaranty Trust; and the Jersey City Trust Company. (Annual Bank Elections. New York Times, Jan. 13, 1904.) In 1910, his daughter, Winifred, married Raymond B. Fosdick, one of the principal advisors of John D. Rockefeller Sr. and Jr. She shot their two children, ages 10 and 16, and herself. (Mrs. Fosdick Kills 2 Children and Self. New York Times, Apr. 5, 1932.) George D. Finlay Jr. married Edith Christie. (Married. New York Times, Nov. 13, 1917.) George D. Finlay Sr. died in 1925. (Died. New York Times, Aug. 11, 1925 p. 21.) He was a relative of Walter Stevenson Finlay and his son, Walter S. Finlay Jr., an executive vice president of J.G. White Engineering Corporation. (Walter S. Finlay, 89, a Retired Importer. New York Times, Dec. 19, 1941.)

Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen (1845-1905) was the grandson of Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys during the American Revolution. He spent "nearly all his life in the tobacco business," and retired as secretary of the P. Lorillard Company in 1898. He had a son, also named Ethan Allen, and daughter, Mrs. Ida Sperry. (Ethan Allen Dead. New York Times, Dec. 29, 1905.) The March 8, 1898, minutes of the company appear to have been written by someone else, with a scrawl for the secretary's signature.

Directors of Lorillard Tobacco re-elected in 1901: Charles E. Halliwell, Thomas J. Maloney, C.C. Dula, Pierre Lorillard Jr., W.H. McAlister, William B. Rhett, and H.D. Kingsbury. (Financial Announcements. New York Times, June 26, 1901.) Caleb C. Dula was a director of the Guaranty Trust from 1916 to 1930.

William B. Rhett

William Brisbane Rhett was secretary/treasurer of Lorillard until at least Feb. 1924. He married Elizabeth Tyler in Washington, DC. (A Day's Weddings. New York Times, Dec. 17, 1899.) He died in 1942. (Deaths. New York Times, Feb. 27, 1942.) William Brisbane Rhett Jr. was with the Equitable Trust Co. (Rhett - Anderson. New York Times, May 12, 1935.) Edward Lowndes Rhett was with Time, Inc. (Her Betrothal to E.L. Rhett Announced. New York Times, Jul. 12, 1937; Elizabeth L. Good Long Island Bride. New York Times, Apr. 24, 1938.) The Guaranty Trust held common stock of P. Lorillard Co. as collateral for a loan through William B. Rhett as agent for employees of Lorillard. (P. Lorillard Company Directors' meeting, May 12, 1920.)

P. Lorillard, 1930s

Directors elected March 11, 1930: Benjamin L. Belt, David H. Ball, V.P.; Earl J. Bush, William W. Drewry, J. Strother Freeman, George H. Hummel, V.P.; Harley T. Jefferson, V.P.; James T. Keel, Everett Meyer, V.P.; Harry A. Stout, Treas.; L. Grayson Weymouth, V.P. E. Lawrence Brooke was elected Secretary. (Minutes No. 10 P. Lorillard Co. Directors, p. 103.)

Directors elected March 11, 1931: Benjamin L. Belt; David H. Hall, Earl J. Bush, William W. Drewry, J. Strother Freeman, George H. Hummel, James T. Keel, Everett Meyer, Alvin H. Shinkle, Harry A. Stout, L. Grayson Weymouth. (Minutes No. 10 P. Lorillard Co. Directors, p. 215.)

Directors elected March 9, 1932: Benjamin L. Belt; David H. Hall, Earl J. Bush, William W. Drewry, John J. Driscoll, J. Strother Freeman, William S. Gray Jr., George H. Hummel, James T. Keel, Everett Meyer, Alvin H. Shinkle, Harry A. Stout, Jaquelin P. Taylor, L. Grayson Weymouth. Taylor informed the board that he was a director of the Universal Leaf Tobacco Company. (Minutes No. 10 P. Lorillard Co. Directors, p. 309.)

Buford Scott

Buford Scott, the son of Frederic W. Scott of Scott & Stringfellow, was elected a director in 1938, replacing Randolph C. Harrison, who resigned. Todd Wool was Secretary. (Plans No Financing. New York Times, Mar. 9, 1938.) Scott was also a partner of Scott & Stringfellow, and he inherited his membership in the New York Stock Exchange and directorates on the Louisville & Nashville and Richmond Terminal Railroads from his late father. (Stock Exchange Notes. New York Times, Oct. 20, 1939; Oct. 21, 1939; Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac. New York Times, Apr. 16, 1940.) He was a director of the Continental Insurance Co., along with James Bruce, a director of Loew's Theatres which acquired Lorillard in 1968. (Display Ad 547. New York Times, Feb. 18, 1962; Display Ad 29. New York Times, Feb. 26, 1963.) He was chairman of the board of visitors and the executive committee of the Medical College of Virginia in 1956. (The MediCovan. 1956 Jun;9(5):2, 6; Cancer Research at MCV-VCU. 1971?.) ) He died in 1973. (Buford Scott. New York Times, Jun. 30, 1973.)

Scott was a donor to the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research, circa 1967. H. Rupert Hamner, former vice president of research of the American Tobacco Co., and Langbourne M. Williams, Chairman of the Board of Freeport Sulfur Co., were trustees. It was founded in 1948. Langbourne Meade Williams Jr. was a boyhood friend of Scott, and they and a third friend were all married the same week. (3 Richmond Chums to Wed. New York Times, Sep. 11, 1930.)

The next Buford Scott was a partner of Scott & Stringfellow as well. "HUGH CULLMAN 100 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017 TO: Mr. Alexander Holtzman FROM: Hugh Cullman SUBJECT: DATE: May 2, 1991 Buford Scott, Chairman, Scott & Stringfeld [sic] Investment Corp., 909 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, (804) 643-1811, telephoned me today about two subjects. One is to report that Richard Kluger who is writing the book on Philip Morris came in to see him last week to talk about Joe 3rd, me and others at Philip Morris and Club LaSalle. Buford said they had a good conversation about personalities and he showed Richard Kluger his Club LaSalle file. Should you wish to know more about the conversations between Buford Scott and Richard Kluger, please feel free to phone Buford directly."

P. Lorillard, 1940s

William R. Perkins

William Robertson Perkins was born in 1875 in Elmington, Virginia. His parents were Thomas B.M. [Benjamin Moore] Perkins and Judith Clough Robertson. He graduated from Washington and Lee University Law School in 1897. After practicing in Lynchburg and Newport News, he joined the legal staff of the American Tobacco Company in New York in 1906, and was involved in the anti-trust litigation against it. In 1911, he became general counsel for the P. Lorillard Company, and held this post until his death. He was the personal counsel to James B. Duke and his brother, Benjamin N. Duke, since 1913, and supervised Doris Duke's New Jersey tax litigation. He was a vice president and a director of the Duke Power Company and vice chairman of the Duke Endowment, and was general counsel and a member of the executive committee of the American Cyanamid Company. (William Perkins, Head of Law Firm. New York Times, Jun. 16, 1945.) In 1942, he formed the law firm of Perkins, Daniels & Perkins with Freeman J. Daniels and his son, Thomas L. Perkins, who also became a director of Lorillard. (Regular meeting of the executive committee of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, Apr. 1, 1942. [The board also approved borrowing $500,000 at 1½% per annum from the Guaranty Trust.])

Letter from U.S. Attorney General G.W. Wickersham to W.R. Perkins, Esq., Attorney for P. Lorillard Company concerning interest charged on leaf tobacco shipped to Liggett & Myers Tobacco and P. Lorillard Tobacco by the American Tobacco Company, Feb. 6, 1913.

Freeman J. Daniels

Daniels assumed the duties of counsel from about a year before his partner William R. Perkins' death. In 1945, he made headlines for protesting the legality of the FTC reopening a hearing which had been settled in 1944 and walking out of it. He stated that the proceedings were "arbitrary and capricious, without any authority in law, without precedent and wholly void, and that these new hearings in this proceeding are for the same reasons equally invalid and void." (Lorillard Lawyer Walks Out on FTC. New York Times, Jun. 28, 1945.) The FTC pretended that the company engaged in unfair and deceptive advertising for pointing out that its brand had the lowest readings of tar and nicotine. (Docket No. 4922. Modified order to cease and desist, 1950. Re Beech-Nut cigarettes, Sensation cigarettes, Old Gold cigarettes, and Friends smoking tobacco. In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit No. 6140 P.Lorillard Company, A Corporation, Petitioner, Against Federal Trade Commission, Respondent. Petition for Review of Cease and Desist Order Entered Against Petitioner by Federal Trade Commission Appendix. Oct 10, 1950.)

In 1953, Daniels was elected a director of the Farmers Loan and Trust Company of New York (City Bank Farmers Trust Names Lawyer to Board. New York Times, Mar. 4, 1953), and he became a member of the Trust Advisory Board of the First National City Bank in 1962 after the banks merged, until at least 1971. In 1953, the P. Lorillard Company created the office of Counsel and elected Daniels and his law partner Thomas L. Perkins to it. (Regular meeting of the Board of Directors, Sep. 16, 1953.)

Daniels was an executor of Mary Biddle Duke, who died in 1960. Perkins Daniels & McCormack collected over $400,000 for their services, while taxes got $33 million of the $60.6 million estate. Biddle Estate Pays 58% of Its Worth in Taxes and Fees. New York Times, Apr. 21, 1967.)

The outside director in 1944 was F. Gladden Searle of Wegner Canning Co., a director since 1943. Jaquelin P. Taylor of the Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., director since 1932, resigned; Buford Scott of Scott & Stringfellow, director since 1938, term expired; and John J. Driscoll of P. Lorillard died.

Outside directors in 1946 were F. Gladden Searle of Worthington Pump & Machinery Co.; and Donald A. Henderson of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.

Donald A. Henderson

Donald A. Henderson of the Industrial Department of Lehman Brothers was elected to the board of directors of Twentieth Century-Fox in 1944. (Banker on 20th-Fox Board. New York Times, Dec. 29, 1944.) He was elected to the board of Lorillard in 1946, along with assistant sales managers Claude W. Berkley and Louis Gruber. (One of Three Directors Chosen By P. Lorillard Co. New York Times, Dec. 12, 1946.) He was elected to the board of the General Public Utilities Commission in 1947. (D.A. Henderson Elected. New York Times, Jan. 10, 1947.) Directors of 20th Century-Fox were S.P. Skouras, president, D.F. Zanuck, Henderson, and Robert Lehman. (U.S. Firms' East Indies Holdings Big. Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan. 9, 1949.) Henderson continued as a director of the new Twentieth Century-Fox after it spun off National Theatres Inc. (20th Century-Fox Completes Split. New York Times, Sep. 24, 1952.) He resigned as a director in 1953 but continued as secretary-treasurer, then as vice-president of finance. He was associated with Lehman Brothers for 20 years before joining 20th Century Fox. (Twentieth Century-Fox Elects Finance Officer. New York Times, Aug. 27, 1962.) He was re-elected to the board of directors in 1963. (Zanuck Staff Selected to Spur 20th Century. New York Times, Mar. 13, 1963.) He retired in 1979 and died in 1982. (Donald A. Henderson. New York Times, Nov. 30, 1982.)

F. Gladden Searle

F. Gladden Searle was the brother of Thaddeus G. Searle, general sales manager of the Continental Can Co. He took his late brother's position at the firm. (T.G. Searle Dead; Sales Executive. New York Times, May 19, 1936.) He was a vice president of Continental Can and a director of Vincennes Packing Corp. when he was elected a director of Worthington Pump and Machinery Corp. (Business Notes. New York Times, Oct. 28, 1937.) In 1942, he left Continental Can to become sales manager at Crown Can Co. (Named Sales Director of Crown Can Company. New York Times, Jan. 10, 1942.) He died in 1973. (F. Gladden Searle. New York Times, Sep. 28, 1973.) Searle left the board in 1965.

The Federal Trade Commission, 1948

P. Lorillard Company, Inc., "was charged under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act with false and misleading advertising in connection with the sale and distribution of Sensation Cigarettes, Beech-Nut Cigarettes, Old Gold Cigarettes and Friends Smoking Tobacco, so as to constitute unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts and practices in commerce." Albert D. Lasker's crony Anton J. Carlson and William D. McNally, whose earlier anti-tobacco work had been
funded by Reginald Auchincloss, were witnesses for the F.T.C. (United States of America Before Federal Trade Commission, Docket Number 4922 in the Matter of P. Lorillard Company, Inc. Brief of Counsel Supporting the Complaint.)

Melvin E. Dawley

Dawley followed Walter Hoving from Montgomery Ward & Co. to Lord & Taylor in 1936. He was appointed a vice president of Lord & Taylor in 1946, and was elected to the board in 1947. (New Lord & Taylor Vice Presidents. New York Times, May 23, 1946; Dawley on Lord & Taylor Board. New York Times, May 28, 1947; Lord & Taylor Elects Dawley President and Chief Executive. New York Times, Jul. 8, 1959.) He was elected a director of its parent company, Associated Dry Goods, in 1960. (Associated Dry Goods Selects New Director. New York Times, Dec. 2, 1960.) Dawley was a fundraiser for the New York City Cancer Committee in 1949 and 1951. (Heads Women's Wear Unit In Cancer Fund Campaign. New York Times, Mar. 18, 1949; Dawley Aids In Cancer Drive. New York Times, Feb. 7, 1951.) He was elected a director of the P. Lorillard Co. in 1949. Robert M. Ganger resigned from the ad agency of Geyer, Newell and Ganger to become vice president and a director. (Lorillard Vice President, Director. New York Times, Feb. 16, 1950.) He retired from Lord & Taylor in 1972. (Melvin E. Dawley Is Dead At 84; Retired Lord & Taylor Executive. New York Times, Dec. 25, 1989.)

Thomas L. Perkins

Thomas Lee Perkins was a son and law partner of William R. Perkins, who was "long counsel for the Duke power and tobacco interests," in Perkins, Daniel & Perkins. He was an assistant secretary of P. Lorillard since March 1942. In 1953, the company created the office of Counsel and elected Perkins and his law partner Freeman J. Daniels to it. Perkins was a director of Lorillard from 1955 to 1957. His successor was George W. Davidson, a 34-year veteran of Lorillard who was vice president of its Federal Tin Company. (Officer of Subsidiary Joins Lorillard Board. New York Times, Dec 5, 1957.) In 1958, Perkins became a director of the Guaranty Trust, and a director of the Morgan Guaranty Trust after its merger with J.P. Morgan & Co.

Harold X. Schreder

Outside director Harold X. Schreder, executive VP and director of Distributors Group Inc., was elected to the board of directors during 1956.

Lorillard and Tobacco. 200th Anniversary. P. Lorillard Company, 1760-1960.

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.

Harold E. Stassen

Harold E. Stassen, the former governor of Minnesota and perpetual presidential candidate, was a director of P. Lorillard Tobacco Co. from 1963 until its merger with Loew's in 1968. Homer A. Tomlinson, the 1964 Theocratic Party candidate for president, who ran on a platform of eliminating tobacco and other pretended "sins," supported Stassen "because he is president of the American Baptist convention." (The Third Party: Mostly Extreme. New York Times, Nov. 1, 1964.) Evelyn Y. Davis, the perpetually protesting stockholder, refused to vote for him on the grounds that his campaign would prevent him from devoting his full attention to the company. (P. Lorillard Scans A Broader Diversity. New York Times, Apr. 10, 1968.) Stassen was President of the International Council for Religious Education from 1942 until its merger with the National Council of Churches of Christ in November 1950, when its functions were assumed by the NCCC. In 1947, the ICRE awarded Thomas J. Watson Sr., whose business machines had been essential to the Nazi holocaust, with its National Russell Colgate Citation for "outstanding contributions to the advancement of Christian education through personal leadership and influence." (T.J. Watson Wins a Citation. New York Times, Jan. 20, 1947.) Stassen had been part of the health fascism crusade at least since 1947, when he and banker Artemus L. Gates (Skull & Bones 1918), movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, former Rep. Clare Booth Luce (wife of Henry R. Luce, S&B 1920, of Time Inc.), and other laymen were elected to the governing body of the American Heart Association (Mayo Clinic Official Named to Head Heart Asociation. New York Times, June 7, 1947.)

B. Lowell Jacobsen

Jacobsen was a vice president of Pepsi-Cola from 1961 to 1963, when he joined Lorillard as a vice president.

Peter G. Levathes

Lorillard director and vice president of advertising Peter Levathes was a vice president of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, and an executive vice president of Clyne-Maxon Inc., an advertising firm.

Walter M. Aikman

Aikman was a senior associate of Arthur D. Little Inc. until joining Lorillard as a vice president in 1964. He was elected a director in 1967.

Robert Meyer

Lorillard director Robert Meyer was president of Heintz van Landewyck s.a.r.1, a Luxembourg tobacco manufacturer which co-owned P. Lorillard s.a.r.1., which since 1964 manufactured and sold under license certain Lorillard brands in Common Market countries.

Philip R. Grant

Grant was a partner of the law firm of Perkins, Daniels & McCormack, general counsel to the Company, or its predecessor firm before joining Lorillard in 1966.

In 1968, former Lorillard chairman Lewis Gruber was a director and a consultant, for which he received $25,000 per year, in addition to his retirement benefits which begn in 1964. Melvin E. Dawley, Donald A. Henderson, and Harold X. Schreder were still directors. The law firm of which Harold E. Stassen was a member was paid $45,000 "for legal services in international matters."

Loew's Corporation acquired Lorillard Corporation in 1968. "The Loew's-Lorillard deal was arranged within a week, after Mr. Tisch learned from the investment banking firm of Lazard Freres & Co. that Lorillard might be amenable to merger overtures. Mr. Tisch and Manuel Yellen, chairman of Lorillard, are old friends, and Lewis Gruber, Lorillard's honorary chairman, has been a member of the Loew's board since 1960." (Loew's Makes Bid to Buy Lorillard. By Leonard Sloane. New York Times, Sep. 6, 1968.) Yellen retired in 1970 as CEO of Lorillard and vice chairman of Loew's. He had been with the company since 1933. (Yellen Retires As Lorillard's Chief. Wall Street Journal, Aug. 25, 1970.)

cast 07-07-07