Robert Lenox Kennedy
Robert Lenox Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 14, 1887 (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, philanthropist |
| Known for | President of the National Bank of Commerce in New York; president of Lenox Library |
Robert Lenox Kennedy (November 24, 1822 – September 14, 1887) was a prominent American financier and philanthropist, known for leading the National Bank of Commerce in New York and the Lenox Library as president.
Early life
Kennedy was born in New York City as the firstborn of David S. Kennedy (1791–1853), a Scottish-American merchant and banker associated with Maitland & Kennedy, and Rachel Carmer (née Lenox) Kennedy (1792–1875). He had one brother, James Lenox Kennedy, who allied with the influential Van Rensselaer family through marriage, along with two sisters, Rachel Lenox Kennedy—founder of the Presbyterian Rest for Convalescents—and Mary Lenox Kennedy; both sisters remained unmarried. His father also held the position of president at the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York.
On his mother's side, Kennedy descended from Robert Lenox, a Scottish-American merchant, and Rachel Carmer Lenox. He inherited part of his estate from his maternal uncle, bibliophile and philanthropist James Lenox. His paternal lineage included Capt. John Kennedy and Mary Lenox Kennedy, who was the sister of his maternal grandfather.
Kennedy completed his studies at Columbia College in 1840 and pursued legal education but never entered legal practice. Instead, he took over his father’s commercial ventures and assumed several leadership roles formerly held by him.
Career
In 1859, Kennedy was appointed director of the National Bank of Commerce in New York, which stood as the largest bank in the United States during the era of the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864. He became its fourth president in 1868, following Samuel Ward, John Austin Stevens, and Charles Handy Russell. Although he stepped down from the presidency in 1878, he continued serving as vice-president under Henry F. Vail, founder of the Bank of the Republic. The bank eventually merged into Guaranty Trust Company of New York in 1929, a predecessor entity to J.P. Morgan & Co.
Kennedy held directorships at several significant financial and transportation enterprises in New York, such as Chemical Bank, Bleecker Street Bank for Savings, New-York Life and Trust Company, Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, Union Trust Company, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railway, United Railroads of New Jersey, and Western Union Telegraph Company. In 1880, he became part of the executive committee at Farmers' Loan and Trust Company.
He also served as trustee and president for leading medical institutions including Presbyterian Hospital and New York Hospital. As a founding member of the Union League Club, Kennedy was a staunch Union supporter during the Civil War but later withdrew from active political involvement. He was elected a Fellow of the American Geographical Society in 1854 and joined its Council in 1884. Between 1873 and 1882, he led the American Sunday School Union as its president.
Following his uncle’s passing in 1880, Kennedy took over as president of the Lenox Library board of trustees. In 1879, he had gifted Mihály Munkácsy’s 1878 artwork The Blind Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters to the library.
Personal life
Kennedy entered into matrimony twice during his lifetime. His initial wedding took place in Philadelphia on October 19, 1852, when he married Louisa Vanuxem Wurts, the daughter of Charles Stewart Wurts, one of the founders of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. Following Louisa's passing in 1877, he remarried on February 10, 1879, in Philadelphia to Sophia Heatly Dulles. Sophia was the sibling of John Welsh Dulles, a Presbyterian clergyman and writer, who was also the grandfather of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and CIA Director Allen Welsh Dulles. The marriage produced no offspring.
Kennedy passed away on September 14, 1887, while aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamship Trave during his return journey from Europe, where he had traveled to seek health improvements. His funeral service was conducted at Manhattan’s First Presbyterian Church located on Fifth Avenue. In 1889, his vast personal collection of books—including rare Aldine first editions, incunabula, vellum manuscripts, volumes with historical bindings, and Americana—was sold at auction at the Fifth-Avenue Art Galleries.