Louis McLane (expressman)
Louis McLane Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |
| Died | December 13, 1905 (aged 86) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, banking executive |
| Years active | 1835–1905 |
| Known for | First general manager of Wells Fargo in San Francisco; president of Wells Fargo & Company Express; founding president of Nevada Bank |
Louis McLane Jr. (January 20, 1819 – December 13, 1905) was a distinguished American financier originating from a well-known Maryland lineage who gained prominence as a successful participant in the California Gold Rush.
Early life
Born on January 20, 1819, in Wilmington, Delaware, McLane was one of thirteen offspring of Catherine Mary "Kitty" (née Milligan) McLane and Louis McLane, a prominent U.S. political figure who held positions including Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson, later serving as president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. His family included notable individuals such as Robert Milligan McLane, who served as a U.S. Representative, Governor of Maryland, and ambassador to Mexico, France, and China; Allan McLane, president of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; and James Latimer McLane, president of Baltimore’s National Bank. His paternal grandfather was Col. Allan McLane of the Continental Army.
Career
At sixteen years old in 1835, McLane departed Newark College to join the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, serving aboard the USS Ohio between 1838 and 1840. He resigned his commission holding the rank of Lieutenant on January 20, 1850.
Business career
Following his marriage and naval retirement, McLane relocated to San Francisco to develop a career in finance, spending much time away from his family over approximately thirty years. In 1864, he co-established the Safe Deposit & Trust Co. During the 1850s, he was Wells Fargo’s first general manager in San Francisco. On November 1, 1866, he assumed the presidency of Wells Fargo & Company Express, overseeing its reorganization after acquiring Holladay Overland. He was succeeded by Ashbel H. Barney in 1869. Additionally, McLane was the founding president of Nevada Bank in 1875, an institution created by William S. O'Brien and James Clair Flood, with Flood succeeding him as president in 1881. McLane returned to Baltimore in 1892.
In his later years, he chaired the executive committee at Baltimore’s Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company and served on the boards of multiple financial organizations.
Personal life
McLane married Sophie Latimer Hoffman (1827–1907), daughter of Baltimore merchant Samuel Hoffman, on June 12, 1849. They had eight children:
- Katherine Milligan McLane (1850–1927), remained unmarried and lived with sisters Sophie and Elizabeth.
- Sophie Hoffman McLane (born 1852), unmarried.
- Elizabeth Curzon McLane (born 1856), unmarried.
- Louis McLane III (born 1857), moved to California around 1880 to work for Wells Fargo; married Lizzie Evaline Blanchard in 1887.
- Samuel Hoffman McLane (1861–1890), educated in Croydon, England.
- Emily McLane (born 1864), wed E. Gittings Merryman from Cockeysville, Maryland.
- Sally Jones Milligan McLane (1867–1963), married attorney David Kirkpatrick Este Fisher, whose sister was married to U.S. Senator William Cabell Bruce.
- Charles Eugene McLane (1871–1941), served as assistant secretary and treasurer at Mercantile Trust and led the Maryland Jockey Club as president.
After experiencing a stroke in October 1901, McLane lived for several more years before passing away on December 13, 1905, at his Baltimore home on North Charles Street. He was laid to rest at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.