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United States Trust Company of New York
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No. 40 Wall-st., Manhattan Building. Trustees: Joseph Lawrence, Luther Bradish, Robert Kelly, Frederick Sheldon, Erastus Corning, Royal Phelps, David Hadden, John J. Cisco, Daniel S. Miller, James S. Seymour, James Suydam, Thomas Slocomb, Caleb O. Halsted, Peter Cooper, Joseph Walker, Greene C. Bronson, John J. Phelps, Shepherd Knapp, Watts Sherman, Wilson G. Hunt, D.H. Arnold, William Tucker, Charles E. Bill, B.F. Wheelwright, Edmund Coffin, Jacob Harsen, R.H. Walworth. Joseph Lawrence, President; John A. Stewart, Secretary. (Business Notices. New York Times, Jan. 30, 1854.) Bradish, Cisco, Hunt, Arnold, Knapp, J.J. Phelps, Bill, and Harsen were also directors of the United States Life Insurance Company. (Insurance. New York Times, Mar. 15, 1855.)
Edmund Coffin was the son of James Coffin and Jane McMillan. He was
the father of Edmund Coffin Jr., Skull & Bones 1866, and James
Coffin, S&B 1868; and grandfather of Henry Sloane Coffin, S&B
1897, and William Sloane
Coffin, S&B 1900. Edmund Coffin Jr. was counsel for the
Phelps-Dodge Company since 1869, and for Union Theological Seminary
since 1892. He married Euphemia Sloane, a daughter of William Sloane.
(Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University 1928-1929, p. 19.)
Edmund Coffin Sr. died in Irvington, N.Y. in 1885. (Death-Roll of the
Week. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Jan. 3, 1885.) He was a
brother-in-law of William D. Sloane.
James Coffin (S&B 1868) went into business with Drexel, Morgan
& Co. In 1875, he went to San Francisco, and in 1879, to Portland,
Ore. He returned to San Francisco as a dealer in stocks and bonds. He
married a sister of John deWitt Hamilton Allen (S&B 1876). One of
their daughters was Mrs. John Shepard Eells (S&B 1901). (Obituary
Record of Graduates of Yale, 1900-1910, p. 739.)
John Jay Phelps was a native of Simsbury, Conn. He was apprenticed
to a printer, and founded a newspaper with George D. Prentice. He was
involved in manufacturing glass in Susquehanna County, Penn. for three
years. Between the ages of twenty-five and forty he made a fortune in
the dry goods business in New York City. He was 59. (News By the Mails.
Boston Daily Advertiser, May 15, 1869.) John Jay Phelps was the father
of William Walter Phelps
[S&B 1860],
and a cousin of Isaac Newton
Phelps, the principal stockholder and Managing Director of the
United States Trust Company, with whom he was associated in
real estate speculation until 1858. (Obituary. Isaac Newton Phelps. New
York Times, Aug. 2,
1888.) His daughter, Ellen A. Phelps, married David Stuart Dodge.
(Married. New York Times, Jun. 21, 1860.) His grandson, John Jay Phelps,
was also a trustee of the United States Trust.
Royal Phelps was born in 1809 in Sempronius, Cayuga County, N.Y.,
where his father was a Presbyterian clergyman. His grandfather, John
Phelps, graduated from Yale in 1759 and was a Massachusetts state
legislator. His mother was Hannah Spafford. He was apprenticed to a
tanner, but didn't like the business and ran away. He traveled to St.
Croix, West Indies, and worked for a coffee merchant, and in 1840 went
into business for himself in Venezuela. In 1847, he was invited to take
over the affairs of Maitland, Cowrie & Co. in New York, which
became Maitland, Phelps & Co. He became a member of the Chamber of
Commerce in 1849, and was vice president from 1855 to 1862. He was a
director of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company and the Royal
Insurance Company, a vice president of the Eye and Ear Infirmary for 20
years, and a trustee of the Roosevelt Hospital. While in Venezuela, he
married a lady from one of the prominent families of that country.Their
only daughter married John Lee Carroll, later the Governor of
Maryland. (Obituary. New York Times, Jul. 31, 1884.) Royal Phelps'
father and grandfather were from Westfield, Mass. (Biographical
Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, 1792-1805 p. 454;
Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, 1745-1763, p.
608.)
John Lee Carroll was a Royal descendant of Malcolm III, King of
Scotland. Royal Phelps' grandson, Royal
Phelps Carroll, married Marion Langdon, also Royal [whose sister was
Mrs. Howard Townsend]. Mary
Louise Carroll married Count Jean de Kergolay, and Anita Carroll
married Baron Louis La Grange. (Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles
Henry Browning, 1891, p. 672.)
Watts Sherman "was a member of a Sherman family which moved from
Germany to England and established itself in the vicinity of London."
His first wife was Lois Sarah Weld, with whom he had Erastus Corning
Sherman and Henry Gibson Sherman. His second wife was Sarah Maria
Gibson, daughter of Henry B. Gibson. Their children were William Watts
Sherman, Duncan Sherman, Harry Sherman, Gibson Sherman, Frederick
Sherman, Charles A. Sherman, and Alexander Sherman. He died on the
Island of Madeira in 1865. William Watts Sherman was Treasurer of the
Newport Casino. He was born in Albany in 1842. His first wife was Annie
Derby Rogers Wetmore, daughter of William Shepard Wetmore and
Antiss Rogers, who died in 1884. His second wife was Sophia Augusta
Brown, daughter of John Carter Brown, the founder of Brown University.
Their daughter, Irene Sherman, married Lawrence L. Gillespie, and
Mildred Sherman married Lord Camoys. (Wm. Watts Sherman Dead. New York
Times,
Jan. 23, 1912.)
John Aikman Stewart was born in 1822 in Fulton Street in New York
City, "when the present Wall Street had real lambs grazing on the
meadows that dotted the financial district." His father, John Stewart,
was born on the Island of Lews, one of the Hebrides group, while his
mother, Mary Aikman, was born in New York City." He graduated from
Columbia in 1841, and his first job was as a civil engineer on the Erie
Railroad. He became a trustee of Princeton in 1868. He remembered the
first financial panic in 1837. "Of panics he once said: 'Such panics as
that and those of 1873, 1893 and 1907 are impossible now. Those were
virtually national disasters.'" He retired from active business in
1921. He considered that he hadn't used tobacco in any form since the
age of 20 to be one of the reasons he kept his health. (J.A. Stewart,
104, Banking Dean, Dies. New York Times, Dec. 18, 1926.) After 8 years
as Clerk of the Board of Education, in 1850 he became Actuary of the
United States Life Insurance Company. Three years later, he resigned to
be Secretary of the United States Trust Company, which was established
largely by U.S. Life interests. He was elected President of the United
States Trust in 1865, when its first president, Joseph Lawrence
resigned. His first wife was Sarah Youle Johnson; their surviving
children were William A.W. Stewart and Mrs. Robert Waller Jr. In 1890,
he married his second wife, Mary Capron, daughter of Col. Francis B.
Capron of Baltimore. (John A. Stewart. By Earl D. Berry. New York
Times, Jul. 25, 1897.)
Trustees: Joseph Lawrence, President; Edwin D. Morgan, Erastus Corning, James Suydam, Shepherd Knapp, William Tucker, Royal Phelps, John J. Cisco, Jacob Harsen, James S. Seymour, Greene C. Bronson, Daniel S. Miller, Caleb O. Halsted, Thomas W. Pearsall, Peter Cooper, Thomas Tileston, John J. Phelps, Wilson G. Hunt, D.H. Arnold, Charles E. Bill, Watts Sherman, B.F. Wheelwright, Edmund Coffin, Thomas Slocomb, Clinton Gilbert, Cornelius Smith, J.J. Astor Jr., R.N. Walworth, and Daniel D. Lord. John A. Stewart, Secretary. (Financial. New York Times, Aug. 30, 1856 and Feb. 2, 1857.)
William Libbey was born in Newburg, N.Y. in 1820. He planned to enter Union College until his father's buiness failure. He came to New York in 1855, and was employed by several dry goods dealers until going into business with Arnold Graef. Department store magnate A.T. Stewart sought him out to become a partner, and he handled almost all Stewart's business for ten years before his death in 1876. He was also a director of the United States Trust, the National Bank of Commerce and the Erie Railroad, and a trustee of the College of New Jersey and the Princeton Theological Seminary. His son, William Libbey Jr., was Professor of Geography at Princeton. (Obituary Record. New York Times, Nov. 6, 1895.)
Trustees elected: D. Willis James, John Harsen Rhoades, John Crosby
Brown, Charles S. Smith, William D. Sloane, James Stillman, John
Claflin, and Lewis Cass Ledyard (filling a vacancy). (United States
Trust Company's Election. New York Times, Jun. 2, 1897.)
John Crosby Brown (1838-1909), was senior partner of Brown Brothers & Co. "Union Theological Seminary's share in Mr. Brown's life was unique, and of late almost absorbing. His father had been a large benefactor of the seminary, and Dr. William Adams, his father-in-law, was for seven years the President of its faculty. John Crosby Brown became a Director of it in 1868, before he was thirty, succeeding the late William E. Dodge, Sr., as Vice President of its Board of Directors in 1883." The Rev. Professor William Adams Brown, D.D., Scroll & Key 1886, of Union Seminary was a son. James Brown was his nephew. (John Crosby Brown Dead. New York Times, Jun. 26, 1909; Bulletin of Yale University, Obituary Record of Graduates of the Undergraduate Schools Deceased During the Year 1943-1944, pp 31- 33; William Adams Brown Papers, Columbia University.) Another daughter of Rev. Adams married Brown Brothers partner Eugene Delano of Philadelphia. (The Rev. Dr. Adams Dead. New York Times, Sep. 1, 1880.)
Yale Obituary Record 1943-44 / Yale University Library (pdf, 393 pp)Another son, James Crosby Brown, Wolf's Head 1894, was with Brown
Brothers & Company ever since graduation. He was a director of
numerous coke and coal companies in Pennsylvania. A sister, Amy, was
Mrs. Henry L. deForest, Yale 1897. (Obituary Record of Graduates of
Yale, 1929-1930, p. 139.) Another son, Thatcher M. Brown, Wolf's
Head 1897, also with Brown Brothers, was on the board of managers of
Presbyterian Hospital from 1907 to 1946.
John Crosby Brown (~1893-1950), Scroll & Key 1915, a son of Rev. William Adams Brown, was the president of Tamblyn & Brown, Inc., a public relations counsel and fund-raising firm. It raised over $150 million between 1920 and 1933, including $4,500,000 for the Presbyterian Hospital of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and for the Yale University Fund. (John C. Brown, 57, Publicist, Is Dead. New York Times, Jul. 27, 1950; Bulletin of Yale University, Obituary Record of Graduates of the Undergraduate Schools Deceased During the Year 1950-1951, pp 79-80.) His cousin, Thatcher M. Brown, was on the board of managers of Presbyterian Hospital from 1907 to 1946.
Yale Obituary Record 1950-51 / Yale University Library (pdf, 160 pp)D. Willis James was born in Liverpool, England in 1832. His father
was Daniel James, a partner of Phelps & Peck and its successor,
Phelps, Dodge & Co., and was the resident partner of its English
branch, Phelps, James & Co. His mother was Elizabeth Woodbridge
Phelps, daughter of Anson Greene
Phelps, the senior partner and founder of Phelps, Dodge & Co. Arthur Curtiss James, Amherst 1889,
was his son. Anson G. Phelps' mother was Dorothy Lamb Woodbridge, a
granddaughter of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge [Yale 1706] and Mabel Wyllys.
(D. Willis James. Prominent Families of New York. By Anonymous, 2009,
p. 316.) D. Willis James was a founder of the Memorial
Cancer Hospital and donated $1000 to help establish it. (The
New-York Cancer Hospital. New York Times, May 18, 1884.)
Rev. Timothy Woodbridge Jr. was a Royal descendant of Edward III,
King of England on both sides. (Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles
Henry Browning, 1891, pp. 14-16.) He was one of the earliest graduates
of Yale College, in 1706. He had mining interests in Simsbury, Conn.
His father, Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, who graduated from Harvard in
1675, was one of the trustees of Yale. (Biographical Sketches of the
Graduates of Yale College, October, 1701 - May, 1745, p. 57.) His
half-brother, Rev. Ashbel Woodbridge, was a member of the Yale
Corporation, p. 309. More than a dozen members of the Woodbridge family
graduated from Yale.
Lewis Cass Ledyard was born in Detroit, Mich. in 1851, "in the home
of his maternal grandfather, Lewis Cass, one-time Democratic candidate
for the Presidency and Secretary of State under President Buchanan. His
father was Henry Ledyard, who had been secretary of the United States
legation in Paris, and the former Matilda Frances Cass." He was
president of the Lying-In Hospital in New York City for more than
twenty years, and he gave $600,000 to the Newport Hospital in memory of
his father, who was its first president. He was a director of the First
National Bank of New York, the United States Trust Company, Great
Northern Paper Company, American Express Company, Atlantic Mutual
Insurance Company, the National Park Bank, and several railroads. He
was counsel to the United States Steel Corporation in 1907. He married
Gertrude Prince, daughter of Col. William E. Prince, in 1878. Lewis
Cass Ledyard Jr. was their son. After she died in 1905, he married
Frances Isabel Morris, granddaughter of Francis Morris. (L. Cass
Ledyard, Noted Lawyer, Dies. New York Times, Jan. 28, 1932.) 1474
shares of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company stocks
were held in the name of "Lewis Cass Ledyard & Payne Whitney & the
Survivor of them" in 1917.
Col. William Edgar Prince (1815-1892) was born in Boston, where his
brother, F.O. Prince, had been the mayor. Their father was James
Prince. (Obituary. New York Times, Jan. 22, 1892.) Col. Prince married
Anna Storer Coolidge, a daughter of Joseph Coolidge [and sister of T. Jefferson Coolidge].
(Married. Boston Daily Advertiser, Jun. 22, 1866.) Another daughter,
Susan Lyman Prince, married Romulus Riggs Colgate, a son of Robert
Colgate and Mary Elizabeth.Riggs, daughter of Romulus Riggs of
Philadelphia. Robert Colgate who founded the Atlantic White Lead and
Linseed Oil Works, was the eldest son of William Colgate, founder of
the famous soap business. (Obituary. New York Times, Jul. 6, 1885;
Died. New York Times, Oct. 1, 1866.) Mrs. Romulus R. Colgate left a net
estate of around $2 million. (Estate of Mrs. Colgate. New York Times,
Jul. 1, 1939.)
The second Mrs. Ledyard was the only daughter of John Albert Morris
(1836-1895),
of New York City and New Orleans. His great-grandfather, the Rev. John
Morris, was chaplain to the Duke of Bedford in the 18th century.
(Morris, John A. In: Louisiana:
Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and
Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), 1914, pp. 643-646.)
Jean Morris, her daughter by her first husband, married Mansfield
Ferry, Yale 1903. (Brides Aplenty on Day After Easter. New York Times,
Apr. 10, 1917.) Mansfield Ferry was a partner of Geller, Rolston &
Blanc, later Taylor, Blanc, Capron & Marsh. He was born in Chicago,
and was from an old New Haven family. He was a member of the Jekyll
Island Club. (Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University,
1938-1939, pdf p. 120.) In 1911, Mansfield Ferry became the owner of
Mory's, "the little cottage in Temple Street... to perpetuate the place
for Yale men." (Mansfield Ferry, Yale '03, Buys Mory's. New York Times,
Jun. 15, 1911.)
Lewis Cass Ledyard of Carter and Ledyard was counsel to the trustees
of the will of New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden. (No Contest Yet
Started. New York Times, Sep. 24, 1886.) He was a director of the
Boston and Maine Railroad (Boston and Maine Annual Meeting. New York
Times, Oc. 14, 1897) and the Maine Central Railroad (Maine Central. New
York Times, Oct. 21, 1897.) He was counsel for the estate of Col.
Stephen Van Rensselaer
Cruger, who was Controller of the Trinity Church
Corporation and the head of S.V.R. Cruger & McVickar. (S.V.R.
Cruger's Will. New York Times, Jul. 29, 1898.) He drew and was one of
the executors of the will of Oswald Ottendorfer, editor and proprietor
of The New Yorker Staats Zeitung. (Oswald Ottendorfer's Public
Bequests. New York Times, Jan. 25, 1901.) He was an executor of the
will of Mrs. Nathalie Reynal, whose estate was estimated at $10
million. (Will of Mrs. Nathalie Reynal. New York Times, May 12, 1901.)
Lewis Cass Ledyard and the United States Trust Company were executors
and trustees of a $750,000 trust left by Countess Antoinette Seilern
for her husband. (Countess Seilern's Estate. New York Times, Mar. 4,
1903.) He was a director of the Phenix National Bank (Join the Phenix
Bank. New York Times, May 3, 1905), and a heavy stockholder and
director of the Northern Pacific Railway (Hill and Harriman Cease
Railroad War. New York Times, May 19, 1905.) He was a director of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, representing the interests
of the American Express Company (More Standard Oil Men in New Haven.
New York Times, Jun. 8, 1907), and sold his holdings of the Boston
& Maine to the New Haven road. (Boston & Maine Sellers. New
York Times, Oct. 21, 1907.) He replaced D.O. Mills, deceased, as a
director of the New York Central Railroad and its subsidiaries, the
Lake Shore and the New York, Chicago & St. Louis. (Central's New
Directors. New York Times, Jan. 21, 1910.) He was a witness to the will
of Johnston Livingston, along with Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Yesterday's
Wills. New York Times, May 16, 1911.) He was counsel for the American Tobacco Company, along with De Lancey Nicoll and Junius
Parker, during its court-ordered dissolution. (Tobacco Trust Plan
Submitted to Court. New York Times, Aug. 4, 1911.) Lewis Cass Ledyard
was the attorney in John
Jacob Astor's divorce, and also drew his will. (Vincent Astor in
Full Control. New York Times, May 8, 1912.) He was a witness to the
will of Townsend I. Burden, who "left practically his entire estate in
trust." (Burden Estate in Trust. New York Times, May 3, 1913.) He was
an executor and trustee of the estate of J.P. Morgan ($3,000,000 to
Each Child and $1,000,000 To Mrs. Morgan. New York Times, Apr. 20,
1913), and was one of three voting trustees of the majority stock of
the Equitable Life Assurance Society, held
by the Morgan estate. Lewis Cass Ledyard Jr. was a witness to the will
and codicil. (Choate Succeeds Perkins. New York Times, Dec. 3, 1913.)
Lewis Cass Ledyard Sr. and Jr. were executors of the will of Oliver H. Payne, who left
$100,000 to Ledyard Sr. (Col. Payne Left $7,000,000 In Gifts. New York
Times, Jul. 7, 1917.) He was also a longtime friend of Henry Clay Frick, executor of
his will, and a trustee of the Frick Collection, for which he left $15
million in trust. (Frick Will Leaves $117,300,000 in Gifts For Public
Benefit. New York Times, Dec. 7, 1919.) Lewis Cass Ledyard Sr. and Jr.
were trustees since 1912 of the Melville Securities Company, a
corporation
created by H. Melville Hanna.
(In re Hanna's Estate.
Surrogate's Court, New York County, Jul. 15, 1922. In: New York
supplement, Volume 195, p. 749.) William Payne Whitney
gave 46 of the 300 shares of his residuary estate to Lewis Cass
Ledyard, Lewis Cass Ledyard Jr., and Edward W. Sheldon in trust, with
absolute discretion. (Whitney Will Gives Millions to Charity. New York
Times, Jun. 7, 1927.)
His grandfather, Benjamin Ledyard Jr. (1779-1812) married Susan
French Livingston, daughter of Brockholst Livingston. (Lewis Cass
Ledyard. In: Prominent Families of New York. By Anonymous, 2009, p.
359.) The Livingstons are Royal descendants of Louis VI, King of
France. The McVickar family are also relatives of the Ledyards through
the Livingstons. (Americans of Royal Descent. By Charles Henry
Browning, 1891, p. 589.) His grandfather, Lewis Cass, married Elizabeth
Spencer, a Royal descendant of William the Conqueror. (Americans of
Royal Descent. By Charles Henry Browning, 1891, p. 311.)
His father, Henry Ledyard, a lawyer in New York City, graduated from
Columbia College in 1830. "In 1836 he sailed for Europe. General Lewis
Cass, then recently appointed Minister to France, sailed upon the same
vessel, accompanied by his family. General Cass, attracted by the
personality of the young man, offered him the appointment as
attaché of the Legation, which he gladly accepted. He thus
entered into the diplomatic service, in which he remained for nearly
ten years. On 7 August, 1839, he was appointed Secretary of Legation in
Paris, and in 1842, when General Cass retired as Minister, Henry
Ledyard was appointed Charge d'Affaires of Legation, an office which he
held until his return to the United States in 1844. On 19 October,
1839, he married Matilda Frances, daughter of General Cass." He lived
in Detroit until 1857, when he moved to Washington to be an assistant
to Lewis Cass as Secretary of State to President Buchanan. When the new
administration came in, his family moved to Newport, R.I., where he was
one of the founders and the first president of Newport Hospital. He
died in 1880. (Ledyard - Cass Biographical Records.In: Descendants of
John Cass(e) (-1671). By Bryan Cass.) Henry Ledyard was one of the
Commissioners of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, of which Capt. Canfield
was the engineer. (Notice to Contractors. Daily National Intelligencer,
Mar. 26, 1853), and a director of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway.
(Detroit and Milwaukee Railway. Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, Dec. 6,
1856.) He was appointed a member of the American Public Health
Association in 1875. (The Health Association. New York Times, Nov. 12,
1875.) Mrs. Henry Ledyard lived abroad with her daughter, Mrs. Spencer
Ledyard, for ten years, and died in London. Mrs. Francis W. Goddard of
Colorado Springs and Henry B. Ledyard, President of the Michigan
Central Railroad, were also their children. (Mrs. Henry Ledyard Dead.
New York Times, Nov. 18, 1898.) Maud Spencer Ledyard resumed her maiden
name after her divorce from Frederick R. Newbold. (Mrs. Newbold's
Divorce. New York Times, Oct. 1, 1892.)
Lewis Cass Ledyard Jr.
graduated from Harvard in 1900. He was a partner of Carter, Ledyard
& Milburn, and was a director of the Melville Bond and Share
Corporation, the M.A. Hanna Company, Great Northern Paper Company, and
a trustee of the United States Trust Company. He was a governor of the
Society of the New York Hospital and the Society of the Lying-In
Hospital, and a director of the Nassau Hospital Association. He was one
of the three trustees of the Payne Whitney estate. (L.C. Ledyard Jr.,
56, Attorney, Is Dead. New York Times, May 2, 1936; $4,000,000 Willed
By L.C. Ledyard Jr. New York Times, May 9, 1936.) His widow, the former
Ruth Emery, later married William
E.S.
Griswold. (Mrs Ruth Ledyard Is Married in Home. New York Times,
Apr. 21, 1948.)
Lewis Cass Ledyard Sr.'s brother, Henry Brockholst Ledyard, was born
in
the American embassy in Paris, France, where his father was secretary
of the legation. He graduated from the United States Military Academy
in 1865. He left the military in 1870 to become involved with the
Northern Pacific Railroad and then the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
and the Michigan Central, of which he became president in 1883. He was
at one time president and afterward chairman of the board of the Union
Trust Company and a director of the Peoples State Bank of Detroit. He
married Mary L’Hommedieu, a daughter of Stephen L’Hommedieu of the
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. He died in 1921. A
daughter, Matilda Cass Ledyard, married Baron von Ketteler, later the
German minister to China who was killed in the Boxer Rebellion. (Henry
Brockholst Ledyard. History of Wayne County and the City of Detroit,
Michigan, Vol. III. By Clarence M. Burton and M. Agnes Burton, 1930.)
Three of Henry B. Ledyard's sons graduated from Yale. Henry Ledyard,
Scroll & Key 1897, was attorney for the People's Wayne County Bank,
the National Bank of Detroit, and the Union Trust Company. Three of his
sons also went to Yale: Augustus Canfield Ledyard 1924, Henry Ledyard
Jr. 1924,
and William Hendrie Ledyard ex-1933. Charles H. L'Hommedieu, Yale 1903,
was a cousin. (Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University,
1932-1933, p. 89.)
Henry Ledyard's brother, Augustus Canfield Ledyard, Yale 1898, was
killed in the Philippines.
(Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale, 1890-1900, p. 725.)
Henry Ledyard's brother, Hugh Ledyard, Yale 1908, dairy farmer of
Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., retired in
1922. (Obituary Record of Graduates of the Undergraduate Schools
Deceased during the Year 1950-1951, p. 66.)
William Douglas Sloane (1844-1915) was the son of William Sloan,
co-founder of the W. & J. Sloan furniture company of New York. He
was a director of the Guaranty Trust from 1911 to 1915. "He was a large
benefactor of Yale University, and in 1912 jointly with his brother
gave the Yale Physics Laboratory, costing more than $500,000. With his
wife he erected and endowed the Sloane Hospital for Women in this city.
It was largely added to in 1897, and again in 1911, when the modern
surgical department was added. The cost and endowment of the new
building represented an investment of more than $1,000,000." Yale gave
him an honorary M.A. in 1889. He was also a director of the Guaranty Trust Company and the National City Bank of New York, and a
member of the board of trustees of Columbia University. He married
Emily Vanderbilt, the daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, in 1872. His
daughter, Adele Emily, married James A. Burden; Emily Vanderbilt Sloane
married John Henry Hammond; Lila Vanderbilt Sloane married W.B. Osgood
Field; and his son was Malcolm D. Sloane, Yale 1907. (The Historical
Register, Illustrated With Portrait Plates. By Edwin Charles Hill,
1919; Malcolm Douglas Sloane. Obituary Record of Yale Graduates,
1924-1925, p. 164.) His granddaughter married John K. Olyphant Jr.
(Adele S. Hammond Weds J.K. Olyphant. New York Times, Feb. 6, 1927.)
The Sloane Maternity Hospital was at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons at Columbuia University.
William D. Sloane was a brother of Henry Thompson Sloane (Skull & Bones 1866) and Thomas Chalmers Sloane (S&B 1868); a brother-in-law of Edmund Coffin (S&B 1866), and an uncle of brothers William and John Sloane (S&B 1895 and 1905). (Henry Thompson Sloane. Bulletin of Yale University. Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the Year 1937-1938, pp. 8-9.)
Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University 1937-1938 / Yale University LibraryThe United States Trust Company was trustee of the will of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, who left $70 million to his son, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt Will Changed By Heir. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1899.)
45 & 47 Wall Street. John A. Stewart, President; D. Willis James, Vice-Pres.; James S. Clark, Second Vice-Pres.; Henry L. Thornell, Secretary; Louis G. Hampton, Assistant Secretary. Trustees: Samuel Sloan, D. Willis James, John A. Stewart, John Harsen Rhodes, Anson Phelps Stokes, John Crosby Brown, Edward Cooper, W. Bayard Cutting, Charles S. Smith, William Rockefeller, Alexander E. Orr, William H. Macy Jr., William D. Sloane, Gustav H. Schwab, Frank Lyman, George F. Vietor, James Stillman, John Claflin, John J. Phelps, John S. Kennedy, D.O. Mills, Lewis Cass Ledyard, and Marshall Field. (Financial. New York Times, Jan. 15, 1901.) Lyman J. Gage became a trustee in 1902 (Display Ad. New York Times, Nov. 2, 1902), and President in 1903. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 11, 1903 and Jan. 3, 1904.) The United States Trust Co. was an executor of Oliver Harriman's will. (Oliver Harriman's Estate $20,000,000. New York Times, Apr. 10, 1904.)
John Jay Phelps was born in Paris, France, while his father, William Walter Phelps
[S&B 1860], was U.S. Minister. His mother was a daughter of Joseph
E. Sheffield, founder of the Scientific School at Yale. He was vice
president of the Hackensack National Bank and a director of the Cayuga
& Susquehanna Railroad, and a trustee of the United States Trust
from 1895 to 1948. (Bulletin of Yale University, Obituary Record of
Graduates of Yale University deceased during the Year 1948-1949, pp.
6-7; John Jay Phelps, Financier, Dies, 86. New York Times, Jul.
5, 1948.) His garndfather, John Jay Phelps,
was also a trustee of the United States Trust.
Anson Phelps Stokes was a partner of Phelps, Stokes & Co. with
I.N. Phelps, James Stokes, and F.P. Olcott. (New York Times, Apr. 20,
1880, p. 6.) Sarah Phelps Stokes, daughter of Anson Phelps Stokes and
Isaac's
granddaughter, married Baron Hugh Colin Gustave George Halkett of
Hanover, a partner of the Rothschilds in London, whose name is in Burke
although his title is a foreign one. Graham
Lusk was an usher. The 300
guests included members of the Vanderbilt, Dodge, Astor, Stokes,
Belmont, Ives, Pagot, Parsons, Seward, Roosevelt, James, Sloane,
Stevens, Lanier, and Scrymser families, and Mr. and Mrs. Grover
Cleveland. (Wedded To A Nobleman. New York Times, Feb. 12, 1890.)
His father was James Stokes. James B.
Stokes, Thomas Stokes, and William E. Dodge Stokes were brothers of
Anson G. Phelps Stokes. He left an estate estimated to be worth between
$5 and $6 million, including land and interest in land in Michigan,
Georgia and Pennsylvania. He bequeathed $10,000 each to the American
Bible Society, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
and the American Baptist Missionary Union for Burmah and Foreign
Missions. (The Will of James Stokes. New York Times, Aug. 7, 1881.)
James Stokes' father was Thomas Stokes, "an Englishman, who was the
intimate friend and co-worker of Robert Raikes, the founder of Sunday
schools, and of John Vine Hall, who former preached in Surrey Chapel,
London. With them he was associated in the founding of the London
Missionary Society. Thomas Stokes came to this country about the year
1802 in his own ship, and sailed up the Hudson looking for a place in
which to establish his future home," but returned to New York City. He
was a clothier at No. 157 Broadway. James Stokes married Caroline
Phelps, a daughter of Anson G. Phelps, in 1831, and became a member of
Phelps, Dodge & Co. in 1838. James Stokes was also President of the
Ansonia Clock Company, the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, the
Pennsylvania Land and Lumber Company, and until a few years before his
death, the lumber firms of Dodge, James & Stokes and of Henry James
& Company of Baltimore. (Obituary. James Stokes. New York Times,
Aug. 3, 1881.) Henry James of Baltimore was the father of Walter B. James, S&B
1879; Henry Ammon James, S&B 1874; and Norman James, S&B 1890.
Lyman J. Gage, President; D. Willis James, Vice Pres.; James S.
Clark, Second Vice Pres.; Henry L. Thormell, Secretary; Lewis G.
Hampton, Assistant Secretary. Trustees: Samuel Sloan, D. Willis James,
John A. Stewart, John Hardsen Rhodes, Anson Phelps Stokes, John Crosby
Brown, W. Bayard Cutting, Charles S. Smith, William Rockefeller,
Alexander E. Orr, William H. Macy Jr., William D. Sloane, Gustav H.
Schwab, Frank Lyman, George F. Vietor, James Stillman, John Claflin,
John J. Phelps, John S. Kennedy, D.O. Mills, Lewis Cass Ledyard,
Marshall Field, Lyman J. Gage, Payne Whitney. (Display
Ad. New York
Times, Jan. 7, 1906.)
45-47 Wall Street. Edward W. Sheldon, President; D. Willis James,
Vice-President; William M. Kingsley, 2d Vice-President; Henry E. Ahern,
Secretary; Wilfred J. Worcester, Assistant Secretary; Charles A.
Edwards, 2d Assistant Secretary. Trustees: John A. Stewart, Chairman of
Board; Samuel Sloan, D. Willis James, John Crosby Brown, W. Bayard
Cutting, Charles S. Smith, William Rockefeller, Alexander E. Orr,
William H. Macy Jr., William D. Sloane, Gustav H. Schwab, Frank Lyman,
George F. Vietor, James Stillman, John Claflin, John J. Phelps, John S.
Kennedy, D.O. Mills, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Lyman J. Gage, Payne Whitney,
Edward W. Sheldon, Chauncey Keep. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 6,
1907.)
Edward Wright Sheldon was born in Plainfield, N.J. in 1858, son of
Rev. George Sheldon and Martha Lyman. He graduated from Princeton in
1879, and the Columbia University School of Law in 1881. He was the
advisor to Elizabeth Milbank Anderson, founder of the Milbank Memorial
Fund, and he was president of the Fund for its first twenty-five years.
He became a
governor of the New York Hospital in 1906 and its president since 1919.
He was chairman of the Joint Administrative Board of the New York
Hospital - Cornell Medical College when they merged in 1927. "Although
the merger was made possible through the generosity of the late Payne
Whitney, vice president of the New York Hospital, the plan was
conceived by Mr. Sheldon, according to Frank
L. Polk, his associate for
many years on several boards." He was also a trustee of Princeton
University and Barnard College, and a director of the Louisville &
Nashville Railroad, Royal Insurance Company, Royal Indemnity Company,
Allied Securities Corp., and Prudential Insurance Company of Great
Britain. He was unmarried, but had six nephews and nieces. (E.W.
Sheldon Dead; Leader in Finance. New York Times, Feb. 16, 1934.) Two
brothers, Henry I. Sheldon and Theodore Sheldon, also Princeton grads,
were lawyers in Chicago. The family claims descent from Gilbert
Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury. (Genealogical and Personal Memorial
of Mercer County, New Jersey, Vol. 2, p. 487. By Francis Bazley Lee,
1907.) His nephew, Col. Raymond Sheldon, son of George W. Sheldon,
married Mary Stewart, daughter of William A.W. Stewart. (Miss Mary
Stewart Weds Col. Sheldon. New York Times, Feb. 6, 1921.) Edward W.
Sheldon was a correspondent of Dr. William H. Welch, Skull
& Bones 1870, from 1925 to 1932.
Mrs. Elizabeth Milbank
Anderson, founder of the Milbank
Memorial Fund, was the daughter of Jeremiah Milbank, who died
in 1884. She married Abraham A. Anderson, an artist. She gave away
about $10 million for public purposes during her lifetime, including $8
million to the Memorial Fund Association she established in 1905. She
bequeathed it another $1.5 million and directed that the name be
changed to the Milbank Memorial Fund. She left trust funds of $250,000
each to her daughter, Dr. Eleanor Anderson Campbell, and granddaughter,
Elizabeth Milbank Anderson 2d. Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., and
the New York Hospital received $50,000 each. She left additional money
for Barnard College, of which she was a trustee and vice chairman of
the board, and $50,000 each to Dixwell D. Davenport of San Francisco,
Kate Clemeny Hewitt of San Francisco, and Clara B. Spence of Miss
Spence's School, Manhattan. Directors of the Milbank Memorial Fund
included Elihu Root, Edward W. Sheldon, Thomas Cochran of J.P.
Morgan & Co., John G. Milburn, George L. Nichols and Dr.
Charles M. Cauldwell. (Anderson Riches Willed to Charity. New York
Times, Mar. 9, 1921.)
A codicil named the United States Trust Company as an executor of
the $30-40 million estate of William B. Leeds. The other executors were
Nonnie Stewart Leeds and George F. Baker. It was witnessed by Edward R.
Bacon and Lewis Cass Ledyard. After his first wife inherited a
large
sum, he became a business partner of D.G. Reid manufacturing tin
plate,
and, with W.H. and J.H. Moore, organized the American Tin Plate
company, which was bought out by United States Steel in 1898. He
divorced his first wife in 1896, and married Nonnie Stewart
Worthington. He was president of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Railroad. (Leeds Left Widow Most of His Estate. New York Times, Sep. 4,
1908.)
Trustees: John A. Stewart (Chairman), John Crosby Brown, W. Bayard
Cutting, Charles S. Smith, William Rockefeller, Alexander E. Orr,
William H. Macy Jr., William D. Sloane, Gustav M. Schwab, Frank Lyman,
George F. Vietor, James Stillman, John Claflin, John J. Phelps, John S.
Kennedy, Darius O. Mills, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Lyman J. Gage, Payne
Whitney, Edward W. Sheldon (President), Chauncey Keep, George L. Rives,
Arthur Curtiss James. 2d Vice President: William M. Kingsley.
Secretary: Henry E. Ahern. (Trow's Directory, 1909.)
Arthur Curtiss James donated $10,000 to the American
Society for the Control of Cancer. ($514,709 For Cancer Fight. New
York Times, Dec. 31, 1926.) He was the son of D. Willis James. Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James
was a benefactor of the New York City Cancer Committee's benefit for
the American Society for the Control of Cancer. (Two Fetes in the
Offing. New York Times, Oct. 20, 1929.)
45 and 47 Wall Street, New York. Trustees: William Vincent Astor, Cornelius N. Bliss Jr., Henry W. De Forest, Lyman Gage, Charles F. Hoffman, Arthur Curtis James, Chauncey Keep, William M. Kingsley (Vice President), Lewis Cass Ledyard, Frank Lyman, Ogden Mills, John J. Phelps, George L. Rives, William Rockefeller, Edward W. Sheldon (President), William Sloane, John A. Stewart (Chairman), James Stillman, William Stewart Tod, Payne Whitney, Egerton L. Winthrop. Other officers: Wilfred J. Worcester, Secretary; Williamson Pell, Assistant Secretary; Charles A. Edwards, Second Assistant Secretary. (Directory of Directors in the City of New York, 1915 Vol. 1939, p. 803.)
Vincent Astor was a son of John Jacob Astor [4th], who died in the Titanic disaster. His first wife was Helen Dinsmore Huntington. "The wedding marked the uniting of two families of great wealth. Mr. Astor, following his father's death, came into the possession of estates valued at $65,000,000, and his bride is the granddaughter of the late William B. Dinsmore, a multi-millionaire... Her grandfather on the maternal side was Alvin Adams, founder of the Adams Express company." [She was a niece of Ford Huntington.] (Vincent Astor Weds Helen Huntington. New York Times, May 1, 1914.) After the Astors were divorced, she married Lytle Hull, son of Mrs. George Huntington Hull of Louisville, Ky., whose mother was also a Huntington. Vincent Astor had married Mary Benedict Cushing, daughter of Dr. Harvey Cushing, the year before. (Mrs. Astor Is Wed to Florida Broker. New York Times, Apr. 16, 1941.) Her sister, Alice, married Charles H. Marshall. Her sister and Mrs. Marshall Field 3d were matrons of honor, and Marshall Field 3d was best man. Cole Porter was one of the ushers. (Alice Huntington One of Many Brides. New York Times, Jun. 3, 1917.)
Vincent Astor, William V. Griffin, James C. Brady, and Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas F. Brady were members of the Endowment Fund Committee of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School (Seek $2,000,000 For Post-Graduate. New York Times, April 4, 1920.) Astor and James C. Brady were elected directors, and Griffin was elected a director and First Vice President in 1924. It was the first all-lay board. (Hospital Elects Board of Laymen. New York Times, Nov. 21, 1924.)
He was briefly a director of the Chase National Bank during the
merger of the National Park
Bank. (Display Ad. New York Times, Aug. 26, 1929.) Vincent Astor's
fellow stockholders in Astor Plaza were William S. Paley and Frank Stanton, chairman and president,
respectively, of the Columbia Broadcasting System, and Hoyt Ammidon,
Robert L. Kerby and Allan W. Betts,
executive employees of Astor. His Manhattan land holdings alone were
said to be worth more than $40 million. (Vincent Astor Plans Skyscraper
In Park Ave. to Cost 75 Millions. New York Times, Sep. 19, 1956.) Betts
was president of Astor Plaza Inc. and was appointed chief executive
officer of the Vincent Astor Office when Ammidon left to head the
United States Trust Company. (A.W. Betts Promoted. New York Times, Nov.
12, 1957.) Vincent Astor's estate was estimated at between $100 and
$200 million, including $87 million inherited from his father. He left
$2 million in cash and property to his widow, the former Mrs. Mary
Brooke Russell Marshall [aka Brooke Astor].
He left his first wife
$25,000, and didn't mention his second, who became Mrs. James Whitney
Fosburgh. The residuary was left to the Vincent Astor Foundation. Luke
B. Lockwood and Allan W. Betts were the executors of Vincent Astor's
will. (Astor Will Leaves Widow 2 Millions; First Wife Is Cited. New
York Times, Feb. 6, 1959.) Lockwood and Betts were granted unrestricted
letters of temporary administration, as well as the power to vote the
Astor estate's controlling interest in Newsweek magazine. (Astor Aides
Keep Newsweek Control. New York Times, Apr. 7, 1959.)
Mrs. Vincent Astor and Mrs. August Belmont were among the sponsors of a reception honoring the backers of a benefit for the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, Col., to be held at the Astor Hotel. It was billed as "a testimonial to C.D. Jackson, publisher of Life magazine, for his leadership in furthering the Health for Peace idea." Henry Cabot Lodge was chairman of the event, which was held in the The Time and Life Building. (Backers of Fete For Denver Unit Will Be Honored. New York Times, Oct. 29, 1961.) The Vincent Astor Foundation donated to the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center's Fund for Medical Progress. (Whitney and Sister Give Hospital 10 Million. New York Times, Dec. 17, 1961.) Vincent Astor left $127 million, with half going to the Foundation, and the other half for a life interest in income to Brooke Astor. She was the only child of Gen. John H. Russell, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps from 1934 to 1936. Her first husband was J. Dryden Kusen, whom she met at a Princeton prom. Their son, Anthony Dryden, took the last name of her second husband, Charles H. Marshall, who died in 1952. She was feature editor of House and Garden for eight years during that marriage. She married Vincent Astor in 1953. (The Goal of Brooke Astor: Easing Misery of Others. New York Times, Jun. 16, 1968.) Mrs. Vincent Astor was among 100 of the closest friends of Mrs. Albert D. Lasker, who were invited to a dinner dance at her townhouse in honor of Gerald Van Der Kemp, chief curator of Versailles. (Mrs. Lasker Is Hostess to 100 At Fete for Versailles Curator. New York Times, Dec. 5, 1970.)
Williamson Pell was a trustee of the will of Frances Cooper Lawrance.
The United States Trust Company held property valued at $200,000 for
his daughter, Princess Poniatowski. (Frances Lawrance Asks
160,000-Franc Allowance to Wed Prince Poniaowski. New York Times, Dec.
5, 1919.)
William Sloane was the son of John
Sloane and Adela Josephine Barry [Berry]. He joined W. & J.
Sloane, the
rug and furniture company founded by his grandfather, in 1895, and
became president in 1906. He was also a director of the Nairn Linoleum
Company, and a director of the Mohawk Carpet Mills, the Provident Loan
Society, the Bank of Savings, the Bank of the Manhattan Company, as
well as the United States Trust. He was a manager of the Presbyterian
Hospital since 1901, a vice president in 1915, and president since
1916. He was a trustee of Robert College in Constantinople, and a
director of the Burke Foundation, and Union Theological Seminary. In
his will, he left $100,000 to Yale, and $10,000 to Yale in China. He
married a daughter of George Augustus Crocker, and they had one
daughter. His brother was John Sloane,
[S&B] 1905, and their
sister, Evelyn,
married William E.S.
Griswold, [S&B] 1899. He was a nephew of Edmund Coffin, [S&B] 1866; Henry T.
Sloane, [S&B] 1866; Thomas C. Sloane, [S&B] 1868; and William
D. Sloane.; and a cousin of Rev. Henry Sloane, Yale 1897, William S.
Coffin, [S&B] 1900, Malcolm D. Sloane, 1907, and John Henry
Hammond, Yale 1892. (Obituary Record of Yale Graduates 1922-1923, p.
182.) William Sloan was best man at the wedding of William Henry
Sallman, President of Northfield College in Minnesota, to Alice Trubee,
sister of Mrs. Henry P.
Davison. (Sallman-Trubee. New York Times, Feb. 18, 1903.)
Edward W. Sheldon, President; William M. Kingsley, First Vice-President; Williamson Pell, Vice-President; Wilfred J. Worcester, Secretary. Assistant Secretaries: Frederic W. Robbert, Charles A. Edwards, Robert S. Osborne, William C. Lee, Thomas H. Wilson, and William G. Green. Trustees: John A. Stewart, Chairman of the Board; William Rockefeller, Frank Lyman, John J. Phelps, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Lyman J. Gage, Payne Whitney, Edward W. Sheldon, Chauncey Keep, Arthur Curtiss James, William M. Kingsley, William Stewart Tod, Ogden Mills, Cornelius N. Bliss Jr., Henry W. De Forest, William Vincent Astor, William Sloane. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 6, 1921.)
Edward W. Sheldon, President; William M. Kingsley, First
Vice-President; Williamson Pell, Vice-President; Wilfred J. Worcester,
Secretary. Assistant Secretaries: Frederic W. Robbert, Charles A.
Edwards, Robert S. Osborne, William C. Lee, Thomas H. Wilson, and
William G. Green. Trustees: John A. Stewart, Chairman of the Board;
Frank Lyman, John J. Phelps, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Lyman J. Gage, Payne
Whitney, Edward W. Sheldon, Chauncey Keep, Arthur Curtiss James,
William M. Kingsley, William Stewart Tod, Ogden Mills, Cornelius N.
Bliss Jr., Henry W. De Forest, William Vincent Astor, John Sloane.
(Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 4, 1923.)
John Sloane was a son of John Sloane and Adela Berry. He joined the family company, W. & J. Sloane, in 1906, became secretary in 1909, president in 1922, chairman in 1933, and retired in 1955. He was in Army inteliigence in World War I and in the National Guard in World War II. His first wife, Elsie Nicoll, died in 1947. Their children were Mrs. Cyrus R. Vance, Mrs. Benjamin Coates, and Mrs. Percy R. Pyne [3d]. In 1954, he married Mrs. Hope Colgate Jerome, widow of William Travers Jerome Jr. (John Sloane, 88, Ex-Chairman Of Furniture Company, Is Dead. New York Times, Aug. 4, 1971.) Mrs. John Sloane was a fundraising activist for Presbyterian Hospital (Hospital to Begin Fund Drive Today. New York Times, Aug. 29, 1925), and Sloane was a vice president of Columbia Presbyterian. (Heads Merged Hospitals. New York Times, Oct. 9, 1945; Hospital Re-Elects C.P. Cooper. New York Times, Mar. 25, 1952.) The first Mrs. Sloane was a daughter of Courtlandt Nicoll, Princeton 1903, whose uncle was De Lancey Nicoll, attorney for the American Tobacco Company. (C. Nicoll, Lawyer, Dies in His Sleep. New York Times, Sep. 21, 1938.) Mrs. John Sloane was a benefactor of the New York City Cancer Committee's benefit for the American Society for the Control of Cancer. (Two Fetes in the Offing. New York Times, Oct. 20, 1929.) He was a brother of William Sloane, S&B 1895.
Edward W. Sheldon, President; William M. Kingsley, First
Vice-President; Williamson Pell, Vice-President; Wilfred J. Worcester,
Secretary; Frederic W. Robbert, Comptroller. Assistant Secretaries:
Charles A. Edwards, Robert S. Osborne, William C. Lee, Thomas H.
Wilson, William G. Green, and Alton S. Keeler. Trustees: John A.
Stewart, Chairman of the Board; Frank Lyman, John J. Phelps, Lewis Cass
Ledyard, Lyman J. Gage, Payne Whitney, Edward W. Sheldon, Chauncey
Keep, Arthur Curtiss James, William M. Kingsley, Ogden Mills, Cornelius
N. Bliss Jr., Henry W. De Forest, William Vincent Astor, John Sloane,
Frank L. Polk. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 6, 1925.)
Lawyer, New York City; partner of the law firm of Davis, Polk,
Lansing, Wardwell & Reed. "Frank Lyon Polk was born in New York
City on September 13, 1871. He graduated from Yale College (B.A., 1894)
and Columbia University Law School (LL.D., 1897). Polk served on a
variety of New York City boards and commissions (1906-1913) and as
Corporation Counsel (1914-1915). He also served in the Department of
State as Counselor (1915-1919), Acting Secretary of State (1918-1919),
and Under Secretary of State (1919-1920). Polk headed the American
Commission to Negotiate Peace (1919) and managed the 1924 Democratic
presidential campaign of John W. Davis.
Polk died in New York City on February 7,
1943." (Polk bio in Diary, Reminiscences, and Memories of Colonel
Edward M. House, at Yale University. It also says of House's papers:
"The most important of these auxiliary collected papers are those of
Frank Lyon Polk, who worked closely with House during the Wilsonian
period as Counselor, Acting Secretary, and Under Secretary of
State...") Polk and other members of the Peace Commission, including
Bernard M.
Baruch, Edward L. Bernays,
and Christian
Herter, later organized "a permanent but informal alumni group."
(Organize Alumni of 1919 Peace Group. New York Times, Apr. 29, 1929.)
Davis and Polk were both members of the advisory committee of the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University in
1929.
Frank L. Polk was on the execuitve committee of the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association, which was founded by George Macculloch Miller of the Central Trust, in 1910 and 1914 (Hospital Association Grows. New York Times, Feb. 16, 1910; New York's Own Needs. New York Times, Nov. 11, 1914.) Frank L. Polk was a member of Scroll & Key. He clerked at Evarts [William M, S&B 1837], Choate & Beaman from 1897-1900; partner Watriss & Polk, (later Alexander, Watriss & Polk) 1900-1914 and Stetson, Jennings & Russell (successively Stetson, Jennings, Russell & Davis [John W., LL.D. 1921], Davis, Polk, Wardwell [Allen, '95], Gardiner & Reed [Lansing P., S&B 1904]. He was a trustee of New York Orthopedic Hospital 1905-23 and vice president 1924-43; trustee of the United Hospital Fund 1910-16; trustee of the United States Trust Company 1923-43; Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York 1930-43; on the board of governors of New York Hospital 1923-43. (Bulletin of Yale University. Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased During the Year 1942-1943, pages 42-44.) He became a director of the Chase National Bank in 1929, after its merger with the National Park Bank. Frank L. Polk's father was Dr. William Mecklenburg Polk, gynecological surgeon at several New York City hospitals until 1898, when he was chosen as Dean of Faculty at the Cornell University's new medical school, which was funded by Oliver H. Payne of the Tobacco Trust.
Obituary Record 1942-1943 / Yale University Library (pdf, 312 pp)His old law partner was Frederic
Newell Watriss, Harvard 1892. Their office was at the famous address of
120 Broadway, New York.
(Harvard College Class of 1892, Secretary's Report, 1907, p. 152.) He
and James H. Perkins' brother, Thomas Nelson Perkins,
were ushers at the wedding of Frederick Winthrop to Dorothy Amory. (A
Day's Weddings. New York Times, Jan. 21, 1903.)
Frank L. Polk and the United States Trust Company were granted
letters testamentary to the estate of Mrs. H. Mortimer Brooks. They
were instructed to create a trust fund of $100,000 for each of her
grandchildren, and a $250,000 trust fund for her daughter, Gladys
Eugenie Livermore. She was the mother of Reginald Brooks, mother-in-law
of Eugene V.R. Thayer, and
grandmother of Reginald Langhorn Brooks, David Brooks, John Walton
Livermore, and Robert Thayer. (Grandchildren Get Estate. New York
Times, Sep. 14, 1920.)
Frank L. Polk was "a remote kinsman of President James K. Polk, who
had
saturated Mexico with spies in 1845 as a prelude to war." In World War
I, as assistant to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, he had laid the
groundwork for the central intelligence
organization U-1. "Polk's dedication to intelligence is reflected in
the way in which he continued his efforts after the war's end. Peace
had already blossomed by the time he set up the 'American Black
Chamber,' a unit charged with the responsibility for breaking the codes
of foreign powers and reading their secret messages. Polk also
established the 'foreign-intelligence section' within the State
Department, which would conduct in peacetime the clandestine activities
his office had conducted during the war. By this time, Congress had
agreed to create for him (in 1919) the special post of undersecretary
of state, the initiative that gave rise to the designation 'U-1.'" His
assistant was Gordon
Auchincloss [Scroll
& Key 1908]. (Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret
Intelligence. By Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones. Yale University Press, 2003.)
Robert Lansing's nephew, Allen
W. Dulles, was Director of Central Intelligence from 1953 to 1961.
Frank L. Polk married Elizabeth Sturgis Potter, daughter of James
Potter of Philadelphia. P.H. McMillan [S&B 1894] of New York was
best man, and the
ushers were Cornelius
Vanderbilt [S&K 1895] and Harry Payne Whitney
[S&B 1894] (brought by
special train from the Vanderbilt-Széchényi wedding),
F.C. Perkins [S&K 1894], Clarence Mackay, Albert Potter, Reginald
Brooks, and
Frank Bishop, all of New York, and her brothers, John and Robert
Sturgis Potter. Mrs. William L. Elkins Jr. was matron of honor. (Miss
Potter Weds F.L. Polk. New York Times, Jan. 28, 1908.) Mrs. Polk was a
patroness of the New York City Cancer Committee benefit for the
American Society for the Control of Cancer. (Two
Fetes in the Offing.
New York Times, Oct. 20, 1929.)
Their son, John Metcalfe Polk (1908-1948), Yale 1931, graduated from
Harvard Law School in 1934 and joined Davis, Polk, Wardwell, et al. He
was a Lieutenant in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations May
1941-Feb. 1942; at Headquarters Commander-in-Chief, US Fleet,
Washington, Feb. 1942-May 1944; attended Air Combat Intelligence School
in 1944, was at Air Combat Intelligence Headquarters, Washington, Oct.
-Nov. 1944, returned to inactive duty Aug. 1, 1945. His sister,
Elizabeth, was Mrs. Raymond Richard Guest [Scroll & Key 1931]. His
brothers were Frank L. Polk Jr. '34, and James P. Polk, Class of 1938,
and two cousins, William Lee Polk '31 and William Julius Polk, Jr. '33.
(Bulletin of Yale University. Obituary Record of graduates of Yale
University Deceased during the Year 1947-1948, p. 118.)
Elizabeth S. Polk's bridesmaids were
Mrs. Frank Lyon Polk Jr., the
former Katharine Savage; Mrs. Winston F.C. Guest; Barbara Phipps;
Dorothy Potter, her cousin; Phyllis Byrne; Phyllis Byrne; and Susan
R.S. Scott of Philadelphia. Raymond Guest's ushers were his cousins,
Michael G.
Phipps, H. Bradley Martin, and Ogden Phipps; Thomas Hitchcock Jr., John Hay Whitney, J. Gordon
Douglas Jr., John R. Fell, James R. Hunt Jr. [Scroll & Key 1931],
Philip Holden, John A.
Howell, T. Truxtun Hare Jr. [S&K 1931], Donald R. McLennan [Jr.]
[S&K 1931],
Harvey Wallace Shafer, and John M. Polk. His brother, Winston F.C.
Guest, was best man. Guest was a descendant of John Churchill, first
Duke of Marlboro, and a grandson of Henry Phipps and Baron Wimborne.
(Elizabeth S. Polk and Raymond Guest, Poloist, Wed in Heavenly Rest
Church. New York Times, Jun. 26, 1935.)
Raymond R. Guest was tapped for Scroll & Key by Robert Monroe Ferguson of Williams, Ariz. (Yale Tap Day Held; 10 Refuse Election. New York Times, May 6, 1930.) He tapped Albert T. Taylor of St. Joseph, Mo. (Yale Tap Day Critic Accepts Election. New York Times, May 15, 1931.)
Donald G. Geddes and the United States Trust Company were trustees of the trusts for William Rockefeller's daughters, Mrs. Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge and Mrs. Emma Rockefeller McAlpin. (Report on Estate of William Rockefeller. Jan. 28, 1939.)
Trustees: Williamson Pell, President; John J. Phelps, John Sloane,
John P. Wilson, Barklie Henry, George de Forest Lord, Roland L.
Redmond, Hamilton Hadley, Francis P. Plimpton, Benjamin Strong, John
Hay Whitney, G. Forrest Butterworth, James H. Brewster Jr., Devereux C.
Josephs. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jul. 2, 1943.)
Trustees: Williamson Pell, Chairman of the Board; Benjamin Strong,
President; John J. Phelps, John Sloane, John P. Wilson, Barklie Henry,
George de Forest Lord, Roland L. Redmond, Hamilton Hadley, Francis T.P.
Plimpton, G. Forrest Butterworth, James H. Brewster Jr., Edwin S.S.
Sunderland, Herman Frasch Whiton, John M. Harlan, and William A.A.
Stewart. (Display Ad. New York Times, Apr. 2, 1947.)
Board of Trustees: James H. Brewster Jr., Vice-President, Aetna Life
Insurance Co.; G. Forrest Butterworth, of Cadwalader, Wickersham &
Taft; William L. Crow, President, William L. Crow Construction Co.;
Hamilton Hadley, lawyer; John M. Harlan, Root, Ballantine, Harlan,
Bushby & Palmer; Barklie Henry, New York; Charles S. McVeigh, of
Morris & McVeigh; Augustus J. Martin, Vice-President; Francis T.P.
Plimpton, of Debevoise, Plimpton & McLean; Richardson Pratt, of
Charles Pratt & Co.; Roland L. Redmond, of Carter, Ledyard &
Milburn; Ralph T. Reed, President, American Express Co.; Walter N.
Rothschild, President, Abraham & Straus; John Sloane, Chairman, W.
& J. Sloane; Alexander Standish, Chairman, Standish, Ayer &
McKay, Inc.; William A.W. Stewart, of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn;
Benjamin Strong, President; Edwin S.S. Sunderland, of Davis, Polk,
Wardwell, Sunderland & Kiendl; Frederick K. Trask Jr., of
Payson
& Trask; James M. Trenary, Vice-President; Berman Frasch Whiton,
Chairman, Union Sulphur & Oil Corp. (Display Ad. New York Times,
Jul. 2, 1953.) Harlan was replaced by Hoyt Ammidon, Trustee, The
Vincent Astor Foundation. (Display Ad. New York Times, Apr. 2, 1954.)
Hoyt Ammidon was tapped for Elihu by John E. Cookman. (Yale Tap Day
Critic Accepts Election. New York Times, May 15, 1931.) His sister
married Charles Stow Walker, Yale 1925, of Toledo, Ohio. (Frances
Ammidon Engaged to Wed. New York Times, Apr. 17, 1933; Out-of-Town
Weddings. New York Times, Jun. 11, 1933.) In 1942, he was a member of
the Executive Committee of the Planned
Parenthood Foundation of America. (Planned Parenthood Federation of
America. The Margaret Sanger Papers.) He was an usher at the wedding of
his classmate, Allan W. Betts
[President G.W. Bush's surrogate father during his college years].
(Evelyn Ohman Wed at St. Bartholomew's To Major Allan Whitney Betts,
Air Forces. New York Times, Apr. 21, 1945.) Hoyt Ammidon was elected a
vice
president of the Huntington Hospital, Huntington, L.I. (Huntington
Hospital Elects. New York Times, Jun. 27, 1948.) He was elected vice
chairman of the Yale Alumni Fund. (Yale Alumni Fund
Board Elects a New Chairman. New York Times, Jul. 18, 1952.) He had
been with the Hanover Bank for
twenty years, and was a vice president of it, when he was elected a
vice president in charge of financial affairs and a trustee of the
Vincent Astor Foundation. (Banker Gets High Post With Astor Foundation.
New York Times, Dec. 9, 1952.) Hoyt Ammidon, representing Vincent
Astor, was a member of an investor group to develop commercial
peacetime uses for atomic energy. G.H. Walker of G.H.
Walker & Co. was also a member. (Business Men Seek Nuclear
Investments. New York Times, Oct. 6, 1954.) He was elected a manager of
the Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied
Diseases. (5 Join Memorial Center Board. New York Times, May 11, 1955.)
He was elected a trustee of the Hanover Bank. He was also a director or
trustee of Astor Plaza Inc., United States Lines, New York Airways, and
the Greenwich Savings Bank of New York. (New Trustee Elected By the
Hanover Bank. New York Times, Jul. 17, 1957.) He was elected a director
of the Commercial Union group of insurance companies. He was also a
director of the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York, New York
Airways, Perkin-Elmer Corp. and the Vertientes-Camaguay Sugar Company,
and a trustee of the Greenwich Savings Bank. (Insurance Group Fills
Several Board Posts. New York Times, Jan. 5, 1960.) "Although one of
the smaller Wall Street institutions in terms of total assets, United
States Trust ranks among the top few in the trust and investment
management field. Founded in 1853, it has never merged or changed its
name or primary purpose." (Ammidon to Head U.S. Trust Co. And Buek Will
Be New President. New York Times, Jan. 5, 1962.) He was elected a
director of American Express (New Director Elected By American Express.
New York Times, Jun. 26, 1963) and the Continental Insurance Company.
(Continental Insurance Elects Two. New York Times, Mar. 18, 1965.) He
was Treasurer of the New York Committee for Project HOPE in 1964.
(Project Hope Health Opportunities for People Everywhere. New York -
1964, p. 64.) He
retired in 1974, and died in 1988. (Hoyt Ammidon, Retired Chairman Of
United States Trust, Dies at 78. By Glenn Fowler. New York Times, Mar.
16, 1988.)
Hoyt Ammidon's father was Daniel Clark Ammidon, who was born in
Wakefield Mass., and moved to Baltimore, Md. with his father, John
Perry Ammidon. Daniel C. Ammidon was in the class of 1879 at Princeton.
He was a partner in Ammidon & Co., a director of the Maryland
National Bank and United States Fidelity and Deposit Company, and vice
president of the Hopkins Place Savings Bank. (Men of mark in Maryland.
By Bernard Christian Steiner, 1907, p. 123.) His mother was Estelle
Josephine Hoyt. (Ammidon-Hoyt. New York Times, Oct. 19, 1902.)
Mrs Hoyt Ammidon was Elizabeth MacIntosh Callaway, daughter of
Trowbridge Callaway, whose grandfather, Samuel Rodger Callaway, was
former president of the New York Central Railroad. She was a
grand-niece of John Bigelow,
one-time U.S. Minister to France. Robert Palmer was best man. (Miss
Callaway Becomes a Bride. New York Times, May 20, 1933.) She was matron
of honor for Margaret Worrall at her marriage to Dr. Herbert Parsons Jr. They were
married at the Trowbridge Callaway home. (Nuptials Are Held For Miss
Worrall. New York Times, Dec. 1, 1935.) She was a member of the card
party benefit committee for the Women's Field Army of the ASCC (Women's
Field Army of Cancer Control Group To Be Beneficiary of Card Party
Tomorrow. New York Times, Mar. 15, 1937), and the Thrift Shop at MSKCC
(Plans Advanced for Thrift Shop. New York Times, Han. 22, 1956; Fashion
Display on Wednesday To Aid Memorial Cancer Center. New York Times,
Jan. 31, 1957.)
Ralph T. Reed was born in Philadelphia in 1890, and graduated from
the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined
American Express as assistant to the controller in 1919. He was
president from 1944 to 1960, and chairman of the executive committee
from then until retiring in 1965. (Ralph Reed, 77, Retired Head of
American Express, Is Dead. New York Times, Jan. 23, 1968.)
In 1946, Reed was a sponsor of the New York Heart Association fund raising campaign. Other sponsors included Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Sr.; Mrs. Albert D. Lasker; James S. Adams; Harold L. Bache, the nephew of Jules S. Bache; Leona Baumgartner; W.A. Harriman; Devereux C. Josephs; Frank Stanton; and Thomas J. Watson Sr. Hugh Cullman and Emerson Foote were chairmen of Commerce and Industry committees. (Display Ad 46. New York Times, Jan. 31, 1946 p. 12.)
"RALPH T. REED. New York, N. Y.; ACS Hon. Life Member. Chairman, Exec. Comm., American Express Co. ACS National Division: Director-at-Large (1961-1963) ; Mem., Crusade Comm. (1961-63), Nom. Comm. (1962), Exec. Comm. (1961-62) ; N. Y. C. Div., Bd. Chm. (1961-64). Director: Am. Internat. Life Assurance Co. of N.Y.; Downtown-Lower Manhattan Assn.; Lafayette Fellowship Found.; Stone & Webster, Inc.; Wrather Corp.; Western Union Telegraph Co. Trustee: U.S. Council, Internat. Chamber of Commerce; U.S. Trust Co. of N.Y.; Roosevelt Hosp., N, Y. C. Member: Comm., N. Y. Univ. Med. Center; Export-lmport Bank of Wash.; N, Y. Chamber of Commerce." (1968 House of Delegates and Board of Directors. American Cancer Society Inc., p. 6.)
House of Delegates and Board of Directors, ACS 1968 / tobacco documentHoyt Ammidon, President; James H. Brewster Jr., Finance Committee,
Aetna Life Insurance Co.; William L. Crow, President, William L. Crow
Construction Co.; Harold W. Dodds, of Princeton, N.J.; Hamilton Hadley,
lawyer; Barklie McKee Henry, of New York; R. Keith Kane, of Cadwalader,
Wickersham & Taft; Charles S. McVeigh, of Morris & McVeigh;
Augustus J. Martin, Executive Vice-President; Samuel C. Park Jr., of
J.H. Whitney & Co.; Francis T.P. Plimpton, of Debevoise, Plimpton
& McLean; Richardson Pratt, of Charles Pratt & Co.; Roland L.
Redmond, of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn; Ralph T. Reed, President,
American Express Co.; Walter N. Rothschild, President, Abraham &
Straus; John Sloane, of New York; Alexander Standish, Chairman,
Standish, Ayer & McKay, Inc.; William A.W. Stewart, of Carter,
Ledyard & Milburn; Benjamin Strong, Chairman of the Board; Edwin
S.S. Sunderland, of Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Sunderland & Kiendl;
Frederick K. Trask Jr., of Payson & Trask; James M. Trenary,
Executive Vice-President. (Display Ad. New York Times, Jan. 3, 1958.)
Augustin Snow Hart, President of Quaker Oats International, Inc., and
Richard M. Paget, senior partner of Cresap, McCormick and Paget,
management consultants, were elected trustees. (United States Trust
Adds to Board. New York Times, May 5, 1958.)
Richard S. Perkin was elected a trustee in 1963. (New Trustee Selected By United States Trust. New York Times, Nov. 8, 1963.)
H. Marshall Schwarz was named chairman and chief executive of the
U.S. Trust Corporation, replacing Daniel P. Davison, retiring. "Mr.
Schwarz's family has long had ties to U.S. Trust and to New York. His
father, F.A.O. Schwarz, was a trustee of the bank from 1963 to 1974.
His great-grandfather founded the New York toy store F.A.O. Schwarz in
the 1860's. Mr. Schwarz joined the bank as a junior officer in 1967
after having worked for Morgan Stanley for seven years. He is a
graduate of Harvard, with an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
His brother, F.A.O. Schwarz Jr., was the city's corporation counsel for
four years and now is chairman of the New York Charter Revision
Commission." Two vice chairmen, Donald M. Roberts and Frederick S.
Wonham, were to serve in the chairman's office, while a third,
Frederick B. Taylor, would be chief investment officer. Jeffrey S.
Maurer was named president. (U.S. Trust Promotes Officers to Top Posts.
By Daniel F. Cuff. New York Times, Oct. 26, 1989.)
Daniel Pomeroy Davison was the father of Henry Pomeroy Davison 2d, S&B 1984.
The United States Trust Company was removed as the co-executor of
the estate of tobacco heiress Doris Duke. The bankers lent more than
$825,000 to her butler, Bernard Lafferty, at a time when he had no
personal assets. Alexander D. Forger, a prominent trust and estates
lawyer who once represented the Kennedys, and the Morgan Guaranty Trust
Company were appointed to oversee the estate. "The surrogate did not
settle allegations from several people contesting the will that Mr.
Lafferty and his lawyers coerced Miss Duke to make changes in her will
while her mind was addled by drugs and old age. Neither did she address
allegations from a former nurse and one of the heiress's former
physicians that Mr. Lafferty conspired with Miss Duke's other doctors
to give her a drug overdose on the night she died in October 1993."
(Judge Removes The Executors Of Duke Estate. By James C. McKinley Jr.
New York Times, May 23, 1995.)
"Federal and New York regulators ordered the U.S. Trust Corporation
yesterday to pay $10 million in fines to settle accusations that it
violated bank secrecy laws and failed to keep complete records in a
special trading unit. The large fines in part reflect heightened
concern that such violations may mask money laundering and other
offenses... According to a person who was briefed on the regulators'
findings, the problems in the private bank involved about 60 wealthy
clients who were structuring withdrawals of more than $10,000 in such a
way as to avoid triggering an internal report. These clients would
present several checks for amounts of, say, $9,999 apiece and order the
money withdrawn on consecutive days, this person said. Though legal,
the action should have triggered reports of suspicious activity by the
bank." (U.S. Trust Is Fined $10 Million in Bank Secrecy-Law Case. By
Michael Brick. New York Times, Jul. 14, 2001.)
Bank of America Corp. bought U.S. Trust Corp., the private banking
unit of Charles Schwab Corp., for $3.3 billion. "The all-cash
transaction will vault Bank of America ahead of JPMorgan Chase &
Co. to create the largest U.S. private banking business, with $261
billion of assets under management, Bank of America said. Bank of
America ranks second with $167 billion, while U.S. Trust ranks fourth
with $94 billion." Northern Trust Corp. ranks third in U.S. private
banking, while Citigroup ranks sixth. Schwab acquired U.S. Trust for
$2.9 billion in May 2000. Charles Schwab, who runs his namesake firm,
said he plans to remain a U.S. Trust client. Schwab itself was bought
by Bank of America in 1983 but split off in 1987 in a $280 million
management-led buyout. (Bank of America to Buy U.S. Trust for $3.3
Billion. Reuters, Nov. 20, 2006.)
cast 03-13-13