Harris C. Fahnestock

Harris Charles Fahnestock (February 27, 1835 – June 4, 1914) was an American investment banker.[1][2]

Harris C. Fahnestock
Born
Harris Charles Fahnestock

(1835-02-27)February 27, 1835
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US
DiedJune 4, 1914(1914-06-04) (aged 79)
New York City, US
SpouseMargaret A. McKinley

Early life

Fahnestock was born on February 27, 1835, in Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of Adam Konigmacher Fahnestock (1806–1887) and Sibyl Thompson (née Holbrook) Fahnestock (1811–1851), who owned a store in Harrisburg. Among his siblings was Edward Morris Fahnestock and Louis Fahnestock. He was a direct descendant of Johann Diedrich Fahnestock, who came to America from Germany in 1726, settling near Ephrata, Pennsylvania.[3]

He was formally educated at the Harrisburg Academy through age 16, while working for his father, before he began at the Harrisburg National Bank as a teller.[4]

Career
Bond of the New Jersey Junction Railroad Company, issued 30. June 1886, reverse site with signatures of J. Pierpont Morgan and Harris C. Fahnestock as trustees

In 1861, he became a partner of Jay Cooke in the banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company, based in Washington, D.C. where he attracted attention "by negotiating for large war loans during the Civil War." While in Washington, he began his interest in railroads, becoming treasurer of the Washington & Georgetown Line before moving to New York City in 1866 as a member of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., alongside Cooke and Hugh McCulloch (the former Comptroller of the Currency under Lincoln). He was with the firm until its collapse during the Panic of 1873.[4][5]

After Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. failed, Fahnestock made an arrangement with John Thompson and his son, Samuel, then president of the First National Bank of New York, by which he took charge of the bond department immediately with the agreement that in 1877, he would be elected vice president and director of the bank and assume control of the bank from the Thompson family (who then founded Chase National Bank in 1877), the same year George F. Baker was elected president. Fahnestock led First National Bank, a predecessor to Citigroup, for twenty-five until his death in 1914.[6] He also served as a director of the Southern Railway, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the American Cotton Oil Company (a predecessor company to Hellmann's and Best Foods, now part of Unilever),[7] and the Western Union Telegraph Company.[4]

Fahnestock & Co. was founded on May 11, 1881, by his son William Fahnestock, Joseph T. Brown and H. C. Fahnestock as special member.[8] In 1936, the firm took over the business of H.L. Horton & Co.,[9] and eventually led to creation of Oppenheimer & Co. in 1950.[6]

Philanthropy

Fahnestock donated $50,000 towards the construction of the west arch or "crossing" of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan. In addition to serving as a trustee and treasurer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a member and patron of the American Museum of Natural History, he was a benefactor of the Post-Graduate Hospital, to which he donated a significant amount after the death of his wife in 1898, including $100,000 for a Nurses' Training School in 1899.[4]

Personal life

Fahnestock married Margaret A. McKinley (1835–1898), a daughter of Isaac G. McKinley, also of Harrisburg. Together, they were the parents of five boys and a girl.

Margaret died on December 22, 1898. Fahnestock died on June 4, 1914, at his home, 457 Madison Avenue in Manhattan (which was owned by Random House in 1968 and today is site to Municipal Art Society),[10] after "two weeks' illness from erysipelas and a complication of diseases".[4] He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Descendants and legacy

The Fahnestocks were parents of six offspring:

  • William F. Fahnestock (1857–1936), who married Julia Strong Goetchius. He built Bois Doré in Newport, Rhode Island.[11]
  • Gibson Fahnestock (1859–1917),[12] who married Carolyn Snowden Andrews, a daughter of Confederate commander Richard Snowden Andrews.[13]
  • Harris Fahnestock (1869–1939),[14] who married Mabel Estelle Metcalf (1870–1930) in 1896.[15] After her death, he married Georgette (née Gérard-Varet) Hyde (1897–1968), daughter of Louis Gérard-Varet (head of the University of Rennes), in 1937.[16]
  • Helen Fahnestock (1872–1955), who married Dr. Clarence Gordon Campbell (1868–1956) in 1896.[17] They divorced in 1922 and she married John Hubbard (1870–1933) in 1928.[18][19]
  • Clarence Fahnestock (1873–1918), who married Marguerite Sawyer, a member of the Lodge family of Boston, in 1906.[20] His estate in Cold Spring, known as Clear Lake, was considered one of the finest in America.[21]
  • Ernest Fahnestock (1876–1937),[22] who married Georgette Henriette (née DeGrove) Perry (1873–1957), the widow of merchant Edward Perry, in 1905. His estate was valued at $3,613,625 in 1941.[23]

In 1929 Dr. Ernest Fahnestock, donated about 2,400 acres (9.7 km2) as a memorial to his brother Clarence, who died in the post-World War I Influenza epidemic of 1918 while treating patients with the disease. Today, the 14,337 acres (58.02 km2) park is known as the Clarence Fahnestock State Park in Putnam and Dutchess Counties in New York.

Harris Fahnestock's grandson William Fahnestock was at age 23 the youngest member of the New York Stock Exchange and later senior partner of Fahnestock & Co. William's second wife, Mrs. Eppes (née Hawes) Moore, was a daughter of U.S. Senator from Missouri, Harry B. Hawes.[3]

Through his son Harris, Harris C. Fahnestock was a grandfather of Ruth Fahnestock (1908–1974), who married A. Coster Schermerhorn in 1926.[24] They divorced (he married and divorced romance novelist Ursula Parrott) and in 1937, Ruth married Count Alfred de Marigny.[25] They also divorced and Marigny married Nancy Oakes in 1942. In 1943, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of murdering his father-in-law Sir Harry Oakes.[26]

References
  1. "Fahnestock, Harris C. (Harris Charles), 1835-1914 - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org.
  2. "The Fabulous Fahnestock Mansions Part 1: Townhouses". Schoolfield Country House. March 12, 2018.
  3. "William Fahnestock Jr., 62, Dies; Partner in Stock Exchange Firm" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 March 1964. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. "H. C. FAHNESTOCK, BANKER, IS DEAD; Vice President of First National and Director in Several Railroads Was in 80th Year" (PDF). The New York Times. June 5, 1914. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  5. "Great Britain.; the Financial Situation the Run on Jay Cooke, Mcculloch & Co. Ended. the Elections in Dover. Irish Riot in Bury St. Edmonds, England the Speaker of the House of Commons. an Editor Fined for Criticising the Chief Justice. Seizure of the Spanish Steamer Murillo" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 September 1873. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  6. "Our History". www.opco.com.
  7. Planes, Alex (April 9, 2013). "What Happened to the First 12 Stocks on the Dow?". The Motley Fool.
  8. "FAHNESTOCK CONCERN 50 YEARS OLD TODAY; Brokerage House Founded in 1881 by Father of Present Member in Stock Exchange" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 May 1931. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  9. "TO ABSORB ANOTHER FIRM; Fahnestock & Co. Will Take Over Business of H.L. Horton & Co" (PDF). The New York Times. 31 December 1936. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. Gray, Christopher (21 December 2003). "Streetscapes/Madison Avenue Between 50th and 51st Street; A Landmark 6-Home Complex in Dark Brownstone". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  11. "WM. FAHNESTOCK, FINANCIER, 78; DIES; The Oldest Stock Exchange Member in Point of Service Founded Firm in 1881. HAD FIRST BANK JOB AT 19 Director of Many Companies--Succumbs at His Summer Home in Katonah" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 July 1936. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  12. "Gibson Fahnestock" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 March 1917. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  13. "MRS. FAHNESTOCK, FINANCIER'S WIDOW; Prominent Leader in Society Dies in Washington--Closed Newport Home Recently" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 October 1937. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  14. "H. FAHNESTOCK DIES IN BOSTON AT 69; Retired New York Broker Taken III a Week Ago on Visit to Massachusetts City" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 October 1939. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  15. "$3,074,569 IN ESTATE OF MRS. FAHNESTOCK; $80,000 Pearl Necklace Among $166,100 Gems--Embroidery and Lace Worth $35,865. FAMILY SHARES PROPERTY Isaac Gimbel's Will Leaves Entire Estate to His Widow and His Two Sons. Gimbel Estate to Family. Millemann Will Aids Charities. Wallace Estate Left to Widow" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 April 1931. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  16. "Mrs.G.G.-V.Hyde Wed to Harris Fahnestock In Ceremony Performed by Justice Bayes" (PDF). The New York Times. 31 March 1937. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  17. "Dr. C. G. Campbell, 88 Expert on Eugenic" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 June 1956. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  18. "MRS. CAMPBELL MARRIES.; Becomes Bride of John Hubbard in Paris Ceremony" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 August 1928. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  19. "MRS. JOHN HUBBARD HONORED AT LENOX; Mrs. Harris Fahnestock Gives Luncheon for Paris Visitor" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 October 1938. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  20. "MAJOR FAHNESTOCK DEAD OF PNEUMONIA; Went to France as Line Officer and Became Chief Surgeon of the 301st Infantry. NOTED AS BIG GAME HUNTER Two Brooklyn Brothers in the Same Regiment Wounded-- Others on Casualty List" (PDF). The New York Times. 9 October 1918. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  21. "ESTATE TO RIVAL TUXEDO.; Dr. Clarence Fahnestock Buys 6,000 Acres Near Carmel" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 May 1915. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  22. "BULLET ENDS LIFE OF DR. FAHNESTOCK; Wife Finds Body in Bathroom on the Top Floor of Their Fifth Avenue Home" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 April 1937. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  23. "Dr. Fahnestock Left $3,613,625" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 May 1941. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  24. "RUTH FAHNESTOCK TO MARRY TODAY; Her Wedding to A. C. Schermerhorn in St. Thomas's Church" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 November 1926. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  25. "MRS. SCHERMERHORN WEDS; Former Ruth Fahnestock Bride of M. A. F. De Marigny" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 November 1937. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  26. "Court Here Annuls De Marigny Marriage" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 October 1949. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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