Mortimer N. Buckner
Mortimer Norton Buckner | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 1942 (aged 68) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, banking executive |
| Known for | President and chairman of the New York Trust Company; president of the New York Clearing House; president of the National Credit Corporation |
Mortimer Norton Buckner (March 10, 1873 – February 25, 1942) was a prominent American financier who held leadership roles as president and chairman of the board at the New York Trust Company, the New York Clearing House, and the National Credit Corporation.
Early life
Born on March 10, 1873, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Buckner was named in honor of his maternal grandfather who had passed away six months before his birth. He was the sole male child of Newton Buckner (1841–1899) and Permelia Grant (née Norton) Buckner (1846–1933). His siblings included four sisters: Katherine Avery, Minnie Barkley, Edith Howard, and Frances Kemper.
On his father's side, his grandparents were Henry Sullivan Buckner, a cotton broker affiliated with the New Orleans Cotton Exchange who constructed a residence at 1410 Jackson Avenue in 1856, and Catharine (née Allan) Buckner. His aunt Ellen Buckner was married to U.S. Senator and Ambassador James B. Eustis. His maternal grandparents were Mortimer Oliver Hubbard Norton, a respected merchant in New Orleans, and Anna Richardson (née Grant) Norton, who was a first cousin to President Ulysses S. Grant.
Buckner received his education at the Cathedral School of St. Paul located in Garden City. He completed his studies at Yale University in 1895. Subsequently, he served as president of the Yale Club of New York until 1922. In 1928, he was appointed a Fellow of the Yale Corporation and awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree by Yale. He stepped down from the Yale Corporation in 1940. Additionally, Colgate University conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1932.
Career
Upon graduating from Yale, Buckner initially worked as a traveling salesman and in insurance before entering the banking sector. In 1901, he joined the Continental Trust Company in New York City as a clerk. Within two years, by 1903, he had advanced to the position of vice president. The following year, Continental Trust merged with the New York Security and Trust Company, resulting in the formation of the New York Trust Company in 1905. Charles S. Fairchild, then president of New York Security and Trust, assumed the role of chairman of the board for the new entity, while Otto T. Bannard, president of Continental Trust, became its president. In January 1916, Buckner succeeded Bannard as president; Bannard transitioned to chairman of the board and executive committee.
In 1921, a merger occurred between New York Trust and the Liberty National Bank of New York. Harvey Dow Gibson, previously president of Liberty National Bank, took on the presidency of the combined organization. Concurrently, Buckner replaced Bannard as chairman. The consolidated institution boasted $10 million in capital alongside nearly $20 million in undivided profits and surplus, operating out of offices situated in the American Surety Company Building at 100 Broadway.
Buckner was appointed director of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1919, taking over from Daniel G. Reid.
New York Clearing House
In October 1931, Buckner was chosen as president of the New York Clearing House, succeeding Jackson E. Reynolds from the First National Bank of New York. He was reappointed for another term in 1932 and remained in office until October 1933 when he retired; his successor was George W. Davison representing the Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company.
Following the collapse of the Harriman National Bank and Trust Company in 1933, a government lawsuit demanded $9,375,000 from twenty member banks within the Clearing House to fulfill their pledge to safeguard Harriman depositors. The banks contested this legal responsibility on grounds that their agreement had been made under emergency circumstances. During a trial before the New York Supreme Court in 1936, Buckner testified that when two banks declined to comply, all members subsequently withdrew their commitments to the Federal Controller of Currency. Prior to trial commencement, eleven banks—including Buckner's institution—had already contributed their respective shares.
Efforts to Alleviate the Depression
Throughout the Great Depression, Brucker played a central role in coordinating collaborative initiatives among Wall Street financiers aimed at countering deflation. In 1931, he was instrumental in founding and presided over the National Credit Corporation, a "$500,000,000 bankers' pool" that served as a forerunner to the RFC and contributed to the rescue of numerous small banks across the country.
The following year, Brucker established and directed the Commodities Finance Corporation and was one of twelve bankers and industrial leaders appointed to a committee by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to promote a credit-expansion strategy for the Federal Reserve System. In 1932, he was also the unanimous choice of ten prominent banks for a seat on the newly created State Banking Board, an advisory panel to the New York State Superintendent of Banks. Upon his passing in 1942, Governor Herbert H. Lehman selected F. Abott Goodhue, president of the Bank of Manhattan Company, as his successor.
In 1933, Brucker spearheaded efforts to unite Wall Street banks and trust companies in supporting title and mortgage firms tasked with managing $700 million in maturing obligations. As president of the Realty Stabilization Corporation, he was crucial when sixty-four committees were formed by the Reconstruction Corporation to expedite the disposition of more than $3 billion in assets from failed banks. Additionally, he served as district chairman for the Second Federal Reserve District, which included New York along with parts of New Jersey and Connecticut.
Subsequent Career
Brucker held a directorship at the 1939 New York World's Fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, where he also contributed significantly as a member of the finance committee and chaired the executive committee. At his death, he was trustee of the estate of James A. Stillman and served as chairman of the board and a member of the trust committee at the New York Trust Company—a position discontinued after his demise. He maintained connections with Sage Land and Investment Company, and his board position at National Distillers Products Corporation was subsequently assumed by John E. Bierwith, president of New York Trust.
Personal Life
On April 25, 1908, Brucker wed Paula Kellerman in Kingston, New York. Their residences included Manhattan addresses at 430 Park Avenue and later 142 East 71st Street. Their offspring were:
- Caroline Brucker (1909–1972), who married Owen Lloyd Winston, a Harvard alumnus and director at Brooks Brothers.
- Newton Brucker (1913–2005), Yale graduate and World War II Lt. Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, later serving as Assistant Secretary to Governor Thomas E. Dewey. He married Joan Sterling in 1937 and subsequently Dorothy Blake circa 1969.
Between 1927 and 1929, Brucker engaged the services of the Olmsted Brothers to design landscaping for his summer residence on Fishers Island, New York.
Brucker passed away on February 25, 1942, at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan following a heart attack suffered at his workplace. His funeral took place at St. Bartholomew's Church with former President Herbert Hoover among attendees. He was interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. At his death, his personal property was valued at $120,000 while his gross estate stood at $387,086, offset by debts and taxes totaling $1,320,240. His widow died in Saratoga, California, in 1971.
Legacy
Following Buckner's passing, the New York Trust Company commissioned a portrait of him from Raymond P. R. Neilson, N.A., intended for exhibition at the New York Clearing House alongside the likenesses of its twenty-seven former presidents.