J. Stewart Baker Explained

Office:President of Chase Manhattan Bank
Term Start:March 31, 1955
Term End:December 31, 1957
Predecessor:Inaugural holder
Successor:George Champion
Birth Name:John Stewart Baker
Birth Date:6 August 1893
Birth Place:Lawrence, New York
Death Place:Morristown, New Jersey
Alma Mater:Princeton University
Parents:Stephen Baker
Mary Dabney Payson Baker
Children:4
Relations:Stephen Baker (grandfather)
William Farquhar Payson (uncle)

John Stewart Baker (August 6, 1893 – September 5, 1966) was an American banker who served as the first president of the Chase Manhattan Bank.

Early life

Baker was born on August 6, 1893, on Long Island, in Lawrence, New York. He was the son of Stephen Baker (1859–1946) and Mary Dabney (née Payson) Baker (1865–1948), who married in 1890.[1] His father served as president and chairman of the board of the Bank of the Manhattan Company, the earliest predecessor of Chase Bank, and was an associate of John D. Rockefeller Jr.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Anna Mary (née Greene) Baker and Stephen Baker, a Republican U.S. Representative from New York during the Civil War who made a fortune as an importer of woollen goods and was a son of Stephen Baker, a merchant who was one of the original stockholders in the Manhattan Company, founded by Aaron Burr in 1799.[3] His maternal grandparents were Francis Payson and Mary (née Dabney) Payson. His uncle was noted author and publisher William Farquhar Payson.[4]

Baker graduated from Princeton University in 1915. After leaving Princeton, he joined the Bankers Trust Company as a bank messenger before being assigned to work in the trust department.[5] At the outbreak of World War I, he joined the U.S. Navy as an ensign. He was discharged in January 1919.[6]

Career

After the war, he joined the Bank of the Manhattan Company, where his father was president, becoming an assistant cashier in the Union Square office of the bank in 1919 before being elected vice president the following year. In 1922, he was elected a director of the Bank and moved to the main office at 40 Wall Street, serving in the Trust department.[7]

In 1927, after thirty-four years as president, his father turned over the presidency and considerable stock ownership to the younger Baker, who had just turned thirty-four.[8] Within a year of assuming the presidency, Baker acquired the Flushing National Bank, the Bayside National Bank, the Queens-Bellaire Bank, the First National Bank of Whitestone,[9] [10] the Bronx Borough Bank,[11] [12] and the First National Bank of Brooklyn.[13] The acquisitions led to the bank having sixty-one offices throughout New York City.[14]

In December 1928, Baker guided the 129-year-old Bank of the Manhattan Company to a joint affiliation with the International Acceptance Bank, Inc., which had been organized in 1921 by Paul Warburg.[15] Each institution retained its corporate identity, but the Bank of the Manhattan Company shareholders owned the stock of the International Acceptance Bank.[16] In 1932, he was chosen as chairman of the board and served in that role until March 31, 1955, when the Bank of the Manhattan Company merged with the Chase National Bank to form the second-largest commercial banking institution in the country. Baker became president and chairman of the executive committee of the merged institution, which started out with deposits in excess of $6.8 billion. He retired on December 31, 1957, but continued as a director of Chase Manhattan until August 11, 1965.[17] [18]

In 1953, he was elected president of the St. Luke's Hospital board of trustees.[19]

Personal life

In 1915, Baker was married to Marianne Lathrop Foote (1894–1992), a daughter of Robert Dumont Foote and Marie Gilmour (née Hopkins) Foote.[20] In 1933, they leased a large duplex apartment at 770 Park Avenue, the Rosario Candela-designed luxury apartment building.[21] Together, they were the parents of:

After a short illness, Baker died at the Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey on September 5, 1966.[32]

References

Notes
Sources

Notes and References

  1. News: 1 January 1947 . STEPHEN BAKER, 87, NOTED BANKER, DIES; Bank of the Manhattan Co. Head Many YearsuBecame . Its President at Age of 34 . . 26 August 2020.
  2. Book: Who's Who in the East . 1942 . Larkin, Roosevelt & Larkin . 190 . en . 26 August 2020.
  3. News: 1 January 1947 . STEPHEN BAKER, 87, NOTED BANKER, DIES; Bank of the Manhattan Co. Head Many YearsuBecame . Its President at Age of 34 . . 26 August 2020.
  4. News: 16 April 1939 . W.F. PAYSON DEAD; AUTHOR, PUBLISHER; Ex-Managing Editor of Vogue and Founder of Firm of Own Name Succumbs at 63 WAS REPORTER IN YOUTH Once Had Served as Editor of The Field--His 'Debonnaire' Was Seen on Stage . . 26 August 2020.
  5. News: 14 December 1927 . STEPHEN BAKER'S SON SUCCEEDS HIM AT BANK; Veteran President of Manhattan Company Becomes Chairman of the Board. . . 26 August 2020.
  6. News: 7 September 1966 . J. STEWART BAKER, BANKER, IS DEAD; Chase Manhattan's First Head Retired in 1957 . . 26 August 2020.
  7. News: 7 September 1966 . J. STEWART BAKER, BANKER, IS DEAD; Chase Manhattan's First Head Retired in 1957 . . 26 August 2020.
  8. News: 14 December 1927 . STEPHEN BAKER'S SON SUCCEEDS HIM AT BANK; Veteran President of Manhattan Company Becomes Chairman of the Board. . . 26 August 2020.
  9. News: 26 October 1928 . FOUR BANKS VOTE MERGER.; Queens Institutions Ratify Union With Manhattan Company. . . 26 August 2020.
  10. News: 9 June 1928 . ARRANGES TO BUY 4 BANKS IN QUEENS; Bank of Manhattan Company to Abolish Two and Operate Two as Branches. ADDS $10,000,000 TO FUNDS National Institutions in Flushing, Bayside, Whitestone and QueensBellaire Involved. . . 26 August 2020.
  11. News: 10 June 1926 . SALE OF BRONX BANK RUMORED IN WALL ST.; Bank of Manhattan Company Is Reported to Have Acquired Borough Institution. . . 26 August 2020.
  12. News: 12 February 1928 . TWO BANKS IN BRONX; National and Borough Concerns Controlled by Bank of the Manhattan Company. . . 26 August 2020.
  13. News: 8 October 1928 . BANK OF MANHATTAN IN BROOKLYN MERGER; Plans to Absorb First National in Extending Operations in That Borough. WILL EXCHANGE STOCK Deal Will Add $25,000,000 to Old Wall St. Institution's Resources of $365,190,675. NO CHANGE IN PERSONNEL W.S. Irish, Head of Organization to Be Acquired, Will Be Executive Vice President. . . 26 August 2020.
  14. News: 7 March 1929 . BANK OF MANHATTAN INCREASES CAPITAL; Stockholders Approve Addition to Acquire Stock of International Acceptance Bank.NEW SECURITIES COMPANYJ.P. Warburg to Head $5,000,000Organisation to Be Owned Entirely by the Bank. . . 26 August 2020.
  15. News: 21 December 1928 . BANK OF MANHATTAN IN $500,000,000 DEAL; 129-Year-Old Institution Will Join With the International Acceptance by Stock Trade. GETS WIDE FOREIGN FIELD Houses to Be Affiliated Long Associated With the Baker and Warburg Families. Basis for Exchange of Stock. BANK OF MANHATTAN IN $500,000,000 DEAL Many Rumors of Mergers. Strong Family Traditions. . . 26 August 2020.
  16. News: 21 December 1928 . BANK OF MANHATTAN IN $500,000,000 DEAL; 129-Year-Old Institution Will Join With the International Acceptance by Stock Trade. GETS WIDE FOREIGN FIELD Houses to Be Affiliated Long Associated With the Baker and Warburg Families. Basis for Exchange of Stock. BANK OF MANHATTAN IN $500,000,000 DEAL Many Rumors of Mergers. Strong Family Traditions. . . 26 August 2020.
  17. News: 7 September 1966 . J. STEWART BAKER, BANKER, IS DEAD; Chase Manhattan's First Head Retired in 1957 . . 26 August 2020.
  18. News: Photographers . Interstate . 23 November 1957 . BAKER TO RETIRE AS BANK OFFICER; Executive Committee Head in Chase Manhattan to Continue on Board . . 28 August 2020.
  19. News: 6 January 1953 . ST. LUKE'S BOARD ELECTS; J. Stewart Baker Is President of Consolidated Hospital . . 26 August 2020.
  20. News: Times . Special to The New York . 20 June 1915 . JOHN S. BAKER WEDS MARIANNE L. FOOTE; Three Clergymen Officiate at Nuptials in Floral-Laden St. Peter's, Morristown, N.J. PRINCETON MEN USHERS Vested Boy Choir Sings -- Reception and Dancing at Spring Brook House, Home of Bride's Parents. . . 26 August 2020.
  21. News: 21 June 1933 . PARK AV. SUITES RENTED.; J. Stewart Baker Takes Large Duplex -- Other Apartment Leases. . . 26 August 2020.
  22. Web site: Memorial J. Stewart Baker Jr. '40 . paw.princeton.edu . . 26 August 2020.
  23. News: Paid Notice: Deaths BAKER, J. STEWART JR. . 26 August 2020 . . 22 February 2003.
  24. News: Richard Baiter Dies at 57; Lever Brothers Executive . 26 August 2020 . . 30 November 1971.
  25. News: BARBARA D. BAKER BECOMES A BRIDE; She Is Married to Richard E, Baiter in a New Jersey Church Ceremony. SISTER IS HER ATTENDANT Reception Held at Short Hills Home of ParentsEdward McPherson Best Man. . 26 August 2020 . . 13 September 1936.
  26. Web site: Barbara MacPherson 1916 - 2019 - Obituary . www.legacy.com . . 26 August 2020 . en . July 14, 2019.
  27. News: Paid Notice: Deaths HILL, PRISCILLA BAKER . 26 August 2020 . . September 29, 2010 . en.
  28. News: TIMES . Special to THE NEW YORK . PRISCILLA BAKER FIANCEE; Morristown Girl to Be Bride of Serge J. Hill of Short Hills . 26 August 2020 . . 29 December 1941.
  29. News: PRISCILLA F. BAKER MARRIED IN JERSEY; She Becomes Bride of Serge Jerome Hill in Church of the Redeemer, Morristown HER GOWN OF WHITE SATIN Mrs. Richard Baiter !s Sister's Matron of Honor -- Luoiea Hill Is the Best Man . 26 August 2020 . . 13 September 1942.
  30. News: Died . 26 August 2020 . . 13 June 1950.
  31. News: MARY W. BELCHER PROSPECTIVE BRIDE; Graduate of Endicott Engaged to Stephen Baker, Former Student at Columbia . 26 August 2020 . . 28 May 1950.
  32. News: J. STEWART BAKER, BANKER, IS DEAD; Chase Manhattan's First Head Retired in 1957 . 26 August 2020 . . 7 September 1966.

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