J. Stewart Baker
John Stewart Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Lawrence, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 5, 1966 (aged 73) Morristown Memorial Hospital, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Financial executive, banker |
| Known for | Inaugural president of Chase Manhattan Bank |
John Stewart Baker (August 6, 1893 – September 5, 1966) was an American financial executive and the inaugural president of Chase Manhattan Bank.
Early life
Born in Lawrence, New York, Baker was the son of Stephen Baker (1859–1946) and Mary Dabney (née Payson) Baker. His father held the roles of president and chairman at the Bank of the Manhattan Company, a forerunner to Chase Bank, and was closely connected with John D. Rockefeller Jr. On his paternal side, his grandfather Stephen Baker served as a U.S. Representative from New York during the Civil War era and was a prosperous wool merchant; the family’s banking heritage dates back to an original shareholder in the Manhattan Company established in 1799 by Aaron Burr. His maternal uncle was the publisher William Farquhar Payson.
Baker completed his studies at Princeton University in 1915 and started his professional journey at Bankers Trust Company as a bank messenger before transitioning into the trust division. During World War I, he held the rank of ensign in the U.S. Navy until his discharge in 1919.
Career
Following the war, Baker joined the Bank of the Manhattan Company, where his father served as president. He advanced to assistant cashier in 1919 and was promoted to vice president by 1920. In 1922, he became a board director and relocated to the main office at 40 Wall Street, working within the Trust department.
At age thirty-four, in 1927, after his father’s thirty-four-year tenure as president, Baker assumed both the presidency and substantial stock ownership. Within the subsequent year, he orchestrated acquisitions of several banks including Flushing National Bank, Bayside National Bank, Queens-Bellaire Bank, First National Bank of Whitestone, Bronx Borough Bank, and First National Bank of Brooklyn, growing the bank’s presence to sixty-one branches across New York City.
In December 1928, Baker facilitated a strategic affiliation between the 129-year-old Bank of the Manhattan Company and the International Acceptance Bank, Inc., which had been founded by Paul Warburg in 1921. Both entities maintained their separate corporate identities; however, shareholders of the Bank of the Manhattan Company held ownership over International Acceptance’s stock.
Baker was appointed chairman of the board in 1932, a position he held until March 31, 1955. At that time, the bank merged with Chase National Bank to create what became the second-largest commercial bank in the United States, starting with deposits surpassing $6.8 billion. Following this merger, Baker served as president and chairman of the executive committee until his retirement on December 31, 1957. He continued as a director until August 11, 1965.
In addition to his banking career, Baker was elected president of the board of trustees at St. Luke's Hospital in 1953.
Personal life
In 1915, Baker wed Marianne Lathrop Foote (1894–1992), daughter of Robert Dumont Foote and Marie Gilmour (née Hopkins) Foote. By 1933, they were residents of a spacious duplex at 770 Park Avenue, a distinguished Rosario Candela-designed luxury building. The couple had four children:
- John Stewart Baker Jr. (died 2003), who rose to senior vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank and later served as president of Alpha Portland Cement Co. in 1964 as well as president of Garden State Bank.
- Barbara Dumont Baker (1916–2019), who married Richard Englis Baiter, an executive at Lever Brothers, in 1936; after his passing she remarried twice—to Frederic Welsh and then Gordon MacPherson.
- Priscilla F. Baker (1921–2010), who became wife to Serge Jerome Hill in 1942.
- Stephen Baker (1924–1950), who was employed by both the Bank of New York and Fifth Avenue Bank; he was engaged to Mary Watts Belcher prior to his untimely death.
Baker passed away following a brief illness at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey on September 5, 1966.
References
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