Charles H. Keep

Charles Hallam Keep
Born	1861 Lockport, New York, U.S.
Died	August 30, 1941(1941-08-30) (aged 79–80) York Harbor, Maine, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Banker, lawyer
Years active	1882–1923
Known for	Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (1903–1907), president of Knickerbocker Trust

Charles Hallam Keep (1861 – August 30, 1941) was a prominent American banker who held the position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury between 1903 and 1907. He led the Keep Commission and subsequently became president of the Knickerbocker Trust.

Early life

Born in Lockport, New York in 1861, Keep was a descendant of Roger Wolcott, who governed Connecticut as colonial governor from 1750 until 1754.

He completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University in 1882, followed by graduation from Harvard Law School.

Career

Following his law degree, Keep established a legal practice in Buffalo, concentrating on investment and financial matters. He also held a directorship at the Marine Bank of Buffalo, which was eventually absorbed by HSBC Bank.

In 1903, he replaced Milton E. Ailes as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Secretary L. M. Shaw, serving during President Theodore Roosevelt's tenure. Roosevelt appointed him to chair the Keep Commission (Committee on Department Methods), which played a key role in overhauling federal departmental procedures. In 1906, Keep collaborated with Lawrence O. Murray and Gifford Pinchot to present a report to Roosevelt highlighting inefficiencies within the Department of the Interior, advocating for organizational restructuring and elimination of several divisions.

Keep remained in office until 1907, when New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes named him New York State Superintendent of Banks. That same year, he emerged as a prominent New York backer of Secretary of War William Howard Taft's presidential campaign.

Later in 1907, Keep was appointed to the New York Public Service Commission for the Second District but resigned in 1908 to assume the presidency of the Knickerbocker Trust. He oversaw Knickerbocker's 1912 consolidation with Columbia Trust Company. After the merger, Willard V. King took over as president while Keep served as chairman of the board for the Columbia-Knickerbocker Trust Company until 1923.

Personal life

On May 17, 1894, Keep married Margaret Turner Williams (1872–1954) at Trinity Episcopal Church in Buffalo, New York, in an event noted for its prominence. The celebration took place at her family residence on 249 North Street. Margaret was daughter to George L. Williams, a distinguished banker in Buffalo, and granddaughter of financier Gibson T. Williams. The couple had two daughters:

• Eleanor Williams Keep (1895–1953), who remained unmarried.
• Martha Gibson Keep (d. 1980), who wed Morris Shotwell Shipley Jr., affiliated with National Sugar Refining Company, in 1929.

During the mid-1920s, Keep purchased a six-story Beaux Arts townhouse located at 9 East 89th Street in Manhattan, designed by Oscar Florianus Bluemner. His wife was an avid collector of fine furnishings, including pieces from Chippendale and Colonial Philadelphia styles. In 1963, more than 200 items from her collection were sold at auction by Parke-Bernet Galleries for $188,240.

Keep passed away at his summer residence in York Harbor, Maine, on August 30, 1941, and was interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. The Manhattan property was sold in 1942 to the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology. His widow died at her East 72nd Street home in December 1954.

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