Bernard Francis Saul
Bernard Francis Saul | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | February 1, 1931 (aged 59) |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of the B. F. Saul Company |
Bernard Francis Saul (January 16, 1872 – February 1, 1931) was a prominent American financier and entrepreneur who established Washington D.C.'s inaugural mortgage banking institution, the B. F. Saul Company.
Biography
Saul was born in 1872 to John Hennessy Saul, an Irish-born expert in horticulture and landscape design credited with planning the National Mall in Washington D.C. His mother, Rosina Mary Lawley, hailed from Bath, England. In 1890, he started his career as a clerk at the National Bank of the Republic. A year later, Saul orchestrated the sale of his father’s botanical nurseries by accepting promissory notes and publicly reselling them, thereby founding the first significant mortgage banking enterprise in Washington D.C., known as the B. F. Saul Company.
In 1899, Saul launched Home Savings Bank, which financed notable local entrepreneurs like Malcolm Gibbs, founder of Peoples Drug, and real estate developer Harry Wardman. In 1919, he combined Home Savings Bank’s commercial banking activities with the trust services of American Security & Trust, managed by his close associate Charles J. Bell. As part of this arrangement, Saul received a substantial shareholding and was appointed chairman of American Security & Trust’s executive committee.
While maintaining a minority ownership in American Security & Trust, Saul focused on broadening the scope of the B.F. Saul Company into areas such as property management, leasing, development projects, and insurance services. This strategic diversification allowed the firm to endure the challenges posed by the Stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, ultimately becoming the largest financial services company in Washington D.C. during that period.
Personal life
In 1898, Saul married Frances E. Maguire in Manhattan, New York. She was the daughter of Andrew and Frances Willoughby Maguire. The couple lived on 13th Street NW in Washington D.C. and had six children: John M. Saul; Bernard Francis Saul Jr. (deceased 1954); Frances M. Saul (deceased 1930); Rose Saul; Andrew M. Saul (deceased 1985); and Teresa Saul.
His grandson, Bernard Francis Saul II, currently serves as president of the B. F. Saul Company, which employs more than 3,000 individuals and oversees upwards of $2.5 billion in mortgage assets for institutional investors.