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New York Trust Company

(Redirected from Continental Trust Company)

The New York Trust Company was a large trust and wholesale-banking business that specialized in servicing large industrial accounts. It merged with the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank and eventually the merged entity became Chemical Bank.[1]

The logo of New York Trust Company

History

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19th century

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Charles S. Fairchild, the first president of New York Trust Company
 
Otto T. Bannard, the company's second president
 
Harvey Dow Gibson, the company's fourth president

On April 3, 1889, the New York Security and Trust Company received its certificate of authorization and was formed with Charles S. Fairchild as the first president and "original capital" of $1,000,000.[2] Fairchild, a former attorney general of New York under Governors Samuel J. Tilden and Lucius Robinson, was serving as the 38th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Grover Cleveland immediately before the company's formation.[3][a]

Fairchild previously was a partner in the Boston Brahmin investment banking firm of Lee, Higginson & Co.[4]

20th century

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In 1904,[5] the New York Security and Trust Company merged with the Continental Trust Company (which had been organized in 1890)[5] under the New York Security and Trust name, but occupied the offices of Continental Trust in the Blair & Co. Building on Broad Street.[6] The new firm had capital of $3,000,000.[7] Fairchild became chairman of the board of trustees, and the president of Continental, Otto T. Bannard,[8] became president of the new entity, which was renamed the New York Trust Company the following year, effective March 1, 1905.[9]

In January 1916, Mortimer N. Buckner, who had worked with Bannard at Continental since 1901, succeeded Bannard as president of the New York Trust Company, while Bannard assumed the newly created position of chairman of the board and of the executive committee.[10]

In December 1920, it was announced that the New York Trust Company, which was based at 24 Broad Street, would merge with Liberty National Bank of New York.[11] Liberty, which had recently absorbed the Scandinavian Trust Company,[12] and was based out of the Equitable Building, had been formed in 1891. After the merger, Buckner succeeded Bannard as chairman of the board, and Harvey Dow Gibson, the former president of Liberty, became president of the New York Trust Company. Past presidents of Liberty included such prominent bankers as Henry P. Davison, Thomas Cochran, and Seward Prosser. The merged bank had capital of $10,000,000 and "undivided profits and surplus of nearly $20,000,000."[11] It occupied offices that had been prepared for Liberty in the American Surety Company Building at 100 Broadway.[11][b]

In 1921, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments on Argued April 25 and 26, 1921 in New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,[14] a case which involved the New York Trust Company as executors of the will of J. H. Purdy against M. Eisner. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. delivered the opinion of the court on May 16, 1921, where the judgment was affirmed with costs.[15]

In 1929, Artemus L. Gates succeeded Gibson as president of New York Trust, becoming "the youngest president of a large downtown New York bank".[16] The 34 year old Gates (who was the son-in-law of the late Henry P. Davison, a former Liberty National Bank president) had started his career in 1919 with Liberty National Bank, going to New York Trust after the 1920 merger and becoming a vice president in 1926. Gates became chairman of the executive committee and Buckner remained chairman of the board of trustees.[16]

As of June 30, 1941, New York Trust reported total assets of $694,659,000.[17] In 1941, John E. Bierwith succeeded Gates as president of New York Trust.[18] Gates resigned the presidency after being appointed the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[19]

In 1949, the New York Trust Company acquired the Fulton Trust Company of New York under the terms of a cash merger agreement involving a purchase price of $5,000,000 (i.e. $250 a share for 20,000 shares of Fulton Trust).[20] Bierwith remained president of New York Trust, which had assets of $670,836,167, and Arthur J. Morris, the president of Fulton Trust (which had assets of $36,158,041), became a vice president of the new firm.[21] Charles S. McVeigh, the chairman of Fulton Trust, and three other Fulton Trust trustees, namely Stephen C. Clark, Charles J. Nourse, and Walter N. Stillman, were added to the board of New York Trust, increasing it from eighteen member to twenty-two.[22]

In late 1949, Bierwith left New York Trust to assume the presidency of the National Distillers Products Corporation and was succeeded by Charles J. Stewart, who had been with New York Trust since 1930.[23] Hulbert Aldrich served as director and president of the company from 1950 through 1959.[24]

In 1952, the New York Trust Company management completed a merger deal with the Manufacturers Trust Company involving an exchange of 1 2/3 shares of Manufacturers Trust for each share of New York Trust. New York Trust president Charles J. Stewart was to have become president of Manufacturers Trust in the proposed merger, but New York Trust shareholders protested the arrangement as "not sufficiently rewarding and the agreement was dissolved."[25] After the deal ended, Stewart resigned and shortly afterward and became a general partner of the investment bank Lazard Frères & Company. In 1959, however, Stewart left Lazard Frères to become president of Manufacturers Trust Company, as had been proposed in 1952.[26]

By 1958, the banks largest shareholder was a holding company representing the Henry Phipps estate.[25]

In 1959, the New York Trust Company, which was largely a wholesale institution, merged with the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank,[1] largely a "retail" institution, creating the Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, the third largest bank in New York City and the fourth largest in the nation.[25] Before the merger, New York Trust, with seven offices, was the ninth largest in New York and Chemical Corn, with ninety-four offices, was the fourth largest.[25] Chemical Corn's chairman and president, Harold H. Helm, remained in those roles post merger, while New York Trust's chairman, Adrian M. Massie, became chairman of the trust committee and general supervisor of the combined trust departments. New York Trust's president, Hulbert S. Aldrich,[27] became vice chairman of the board along with Gilbert H. Perkins, who held the post at Chemical Corn.[25]

Notable personnel

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See also

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ Among those interested in the newly formed the New York Security and Trust Company were Roswell P. Flower, former governor of New York, William A. Booth, William Woodward Jr., William Henry Appleton of D. Appleton & Company publishers, Loomis L. White, William Lafayette Strong, William F. Buckley, C. C. Baldwin, S. G. Nelson, Hudson Hoagland, James J. Hill, James Stillman, W. H. Tillinghast, William H. Beers, and Congressman William Lawrence Scott of Erie, Pennsylvania.[3]
  2. ^ After the consolidation of the institutions, the board of trustees of the New York Trust Company were: Otto T. Bannard, chairman; Mortimer N. Buckner, Thomas Cochran, J.P. Morgan & Co.; James Colby Colgate, James B. Colgate & Co., Edmund C. Converse, New York; Alfred A. Cook, Leventritt, Cook, Nathan & Lehman; Arthur Cumnock, Catlin & Co.; Otis H. Cutler, chairman, American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company; Henry P. Davison, J.P. Morgan & Co.; Robert W. DeForest, De Forest Brothers; George Doubleday, president, Ingersoll-Rand Company; Russell H. Dunham, president, Hercules Powder Company; Samuel H. Fisher, New York; John A. Garver, Shearman & Sterling; Harvey Dow Gibson, president, Liberty National Bank; Thomas Andrew Gillespie, chairman, T. A. Gillespie Company; Charles Hayden, Hayden, Stone & Co.; Lyman N. Hine, president, American Cotton Oil Company; Frank Norton Hoffstot, president, Pressed Steel Car Company; Henry Carnegie Phipps, New York; Walter Jennings, New York; Darwin P. Kingsley, president, New York Life Insurance Company; Edward Eugene Loomis, president of Lehigh Valley Railroad; Howard W. Maxwell, vice president, Atlas Portland Cement Company; Ogden L. Mills, New York; Edward S. Moore, vice president, Beech-Nut Packing Company. Junius Spencer Morgan II, J.P. Morgan & Co.; Grayson M. P. Murphy, Grayson M. P. Murphy & Co.; Charles W. Riecks, vice president, Liberty National Bank; Dean Sage, Zabriskie, Sage, Kerr & Gray.[13]
Sources
  1. ^ a b Helm at the Helm, Time magazine, June 15, 1959, archived from the original on February 1, 2011, retrieved 2012-08-12, Banker Harold Holmes Helm, 58, expansion-minded chairman of Manhattan's Chemical Corn Exchange Bank, long had his "loving eye" on the New York Trust Co. ... Last week Helm proposed a merger, swapping 1¾ shares of Chemical Corn stock for one share of New ...
  2. ^ Paine, Willis Seaver (1894). The Laws of the State of New York, Relating to Banks, Banking and Trust Companies, Loan, Mortgage and Safe Deposit Corporations, Together with the Acts Affecting Monied Corporations Generally, Including the Statutory Construction Law, the General Corporation Law, and the Stock Corporation Law, Also the National Bank Act and Cognate United States Statutes, with Annotations. L. K. Strouse. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Mr. Fairchild's Trust Company". The New York Times. 5 March 1889. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  4. ^ Rothbard, Murray Newton (2002). History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II, A. Ludwig von Mises Institute. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-61016-435-1. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "TRUST COMPANIES UNITE". The Bankers Magazine. Bradford-Rhodes & Company. 1904. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  6. ^ "TRUSTEES APPROVE MERGER.; Plans to Combine Continental and New York Security and Trust Companies". The New York Times. 20 February 1904. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. ^ "TRUST COMPANIES TO MERGE.; Charles S. Fairchild to be Board Chairman of the Combined Institution". The New York Times. 18 February 1904. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  8. ^ "CONTINENTAL TRUST COMPANY'S MOVE.; Announces Withdrawal from the Clearing House Association". The New York Times. 25 April 1903. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Security and Trust's New Name". The New York Times. 19 February 1905. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ^ "BUCKNER N.Y. TRUST HEAD.; O.T. Bannard Chairman of the Board of the New Institution". The New York Times. 20 January 1916. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "N.Y.TRUST TO MERGE WITH LIBERTY BANK; Will Have Capital of $10,000,000; Undivided Profits and Surplus $20,000,000.BUCKNER BOARD CHAIRMAN Otto T. Bannard to Head Advisory Committee--Gibson Will Be President". The New York Times. December 23, 1920. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  12. ^ "LIBERTY NATIONAL IN A BIG MERGER; Consolidates with Scandinavian Trust Company, Increasing Capital to $5,000,000. DEPOSITS ARE $100,000,000 Absorbs Entire Staff of Institution --To Expand Its Foreign Business". The New York Times. 29 August 1919. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  13. ^ "N.Y. TRUST BOARD NAMED.; Thirty Prominent Men Selected as Directors in Consolidation". The New York Times. 10 March 1921. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  14. ^ "NEW YORK TRUST CO. et al. v. EISNER". www.law.cornell.edu. LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  15. ^ "U.S. Supreme Court". The New York Times. 17 May 1921. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  16. ^ a b "A.L. GATES, 34, HEADS NEW YORK TRUST; Son-in-Law of the Late H.P. Davison Youngest President of Large Bank Here. CAME FROM IOWA IN 1919 Began His Banking Career With the Liberty, Which Joined Trust Company in 1921". The New York Times. 13 June 1929. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  17. ^ a b "New York Trust Company Elects John E. Bierwirth to Presidency; Trustees Elevate Vice President to Post Vacated by Artemus L. Gates, Now in Aeronautical Position for the U.S. Navy". The New York Times. 10 September 1941. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Appointments by New York Trust". The New York Times. 16 April 1931. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  19. ^ "NAMES A.L. GATES TO NAVY AIR POST; President Picks Head of New York Trust Company for Assistant Secretary". The New York Times. 29 August 1941. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  20. ^ "TRUST COMPANIES WILL MERGE HERE; New York Will Absorb Fulton Under an Agreed Purchase Price of $5,000,000 $2.50 A SHARE TO HOLDERS Employment of Personnel of the Purchased Concern to Be Offered by Buyer". The New York Times. 29 July 1949. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Plans Pushed for Merging Of Fulton Trust, N. Y. Trust; Latter Would Be Surviving Institution if Deal, Said to Be for Cash, Is Realized -- Former's Stock Is Active". The New York Times. 28 July 1949. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  22. ^ "New York Trust Co. Will Absorb Fulton". The New York Times. 31 August 1949. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  23. ^ a b "Leaves Bank Presidency To Head Liquor Concern". The New York Times. 10 November 1949. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  24. ^ Randy Kennedy (January 9, 1995). "Hulbert Aldrich, 87; Banking Executive Led New York Trust". The New York Times. p. B9.
  25. ^ a b c d e Kraus, Albert L. (3 June 1959). "Chemical Corn Exchange Bank And New York Trust Set Merger; MERGER PLANNED BY TWO BIG BANKS". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2020. A proposal to merge the New York Trust Company and the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank has been approved by directors of both institutions, it was announced last night.
  26. ^ a b "Charles Stewart Dies; An Ex-Bank Executive". The New York Times. 17 July 1987. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  27. ^ a b Kennedy, Randy (9 January 1995). "Hulbert Aldrich, 87; Banking Executive Led New York Trust". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  28. ^ "CHAS. S. FAIRCHILD DIES IN 83D YEAR; Secretary of the Treasury in Cleveland's First Cabinet Succumbs Suddenly LAWYER AND FINANCIER As Counsel for the Constitutional League He Tried to Block the Suffrage Proclamation". The New York Times. 25 November 1924. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  29. ^ "Otto T. Bannard, Banker, Dies at Sea" (PDF), The New York Times, 17 January 1929, retrieved 4 September 2015
  30. ^ "BUCKNER RENAMED BY CLEARING HOUSE; Again President of Association -- Davison Succeeds McCain as Committee Chairman. BUSINESS DECLINED IN YEAR Association Now Composed of Six National Banks, One State Bank and 14 Trust Companies". The New York Times. 5 October 1932. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  31. ^ "H.D. GIBSON TO HEAD THE MANUFACTURERS IN NEW BANKING DEAL; New York Trust Executive and Associates Buy Goldman Sachs 32 Per Cent Interest. AND HE BECOMES PRESIDENT Working Control Passes to a Private Group Identified With Wall Street Leaders. STOCK ADVANCES SHARPLY At Present Market Value Purchase Would Have Involved About $12,500,000. Figured in Recent Merger Plan. Stock Advances 4 Points. H.D. GIBSON LEADER IN NEW BANK DEAL". The New York Times. 4 January 1931. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  32. ^ "ALEXANDER WEBB, HEAD OF ASPCA, 77; Retired Financier, a Banking Executive Many Years, Dies -- Aided Humane Association". The New York Times. January 24, 1948. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  33. ^ "James G. Blaine To Move. Will Leave New York Trust to Become President of Fidelity Trust". New York Times. December 7, 1926. Retrieved 2012-08-12. James G. Blaine, Vice President of the New York Trust Company, will become President of the Fidelity Trust Company next month, it was announced yesterday. ...
  34. ^ "Kidnaps Little Girl In Montclair After Killing Auto Driver". New York Times. September 5, 1925. Retrieved 2012-08-12. Mary Daly, 6 years old, daughter of a well-to-do resident of Montclair, N.J., was kidnapped at 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon in front of the Montclair home of Joseph A. Bower, Vice President of the New York Trust Company.
  35. ^ "Norman B. Ream Dead". The Wall Street Journal. February 10, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved August 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
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