Astor Trust Company

The Astor Trust Company was a historic American banking organization. The firm merged with Bankers Trust in 1917.

Astor Trust Company
IndustryTrust company
FateMerged with Bankers Trust (1917)
PredecessorAstor National Bank
Sixth National Bank
New Netherlands Trust Company
Founded1898
HeadquartersNew York City, New York
Key people
George Fisher Baker
Edmund C. Converse
Alexander Henry Stevens
Thomas Cochran
ProductsFinancial services

History

The Astor National Bank of New York was authorized to begin business on February 9, 1898, with initial capital of $300,000.[1] John Jacob Astor IV was the first depositor when the bank opened on February 14, 1898 with George Fisher Baker as president and Charles F. Bevins as cashier.[2] The first days deposits totaled $700,000.[2] The Bank was located in the Astor Court Building,[lower-alpha 1] adjoining the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, at 34th Street and Astor Court (just west of Fifth Avenue). It was rumored that Jack Astor was "interested in the company and might be active in its management."[4]

In 1899, Sixth National Bank (which was founded in 1864),[5] of which Alexander Henry Stevens was then president, consolidated with the Astor National Bank.[6][7] Stevens then became a vice-president of Astor National Bank, serving in that role until his death in 1916.[8] By 1900, the Bank had $350,000 in capital.[9] From 1906 to 1914, Thomas Cochran served as vice-president of the bank (Cochran became a partner in J.P. Morgan & Company in 1917). Edmund C. Converse served as president of Astor Trust from 1907 to 1917.[10]

In 1907, Astor National Bank merged with the New Netherlands Trust Company to become the Astor Trust Company.[11] New Netherland Trust Company had been organized in October 1906 by "interests identified with the Bankers' Trust Company".[12] After the 1907 consolidation, the Astor Trust Company had capital of $1,250,000,[12] and left the Astor Court Building,[lower-alpha 2] and moved to 369 Fifth Avenue and 36th Street where New Netherland Trust was shortly to have begun business.[13]

In 1912, during the Pujo Committee inquiry, Astor Trust was included in the presentation that showed that "eighteen financial institutions in New York, Chicago, and Boston virtually constituted a 'money trust,' having a voice through the places on the Board of Directors in the management of 134 corporations, with an aggregate capital of $25,325,000,000."[14] Upon questioning by Samuel Untermyer, Scudder informed the committee that the 29 Astor Trust Co. directors held 64 directorships in 17 other banks and trust companies.[15] Also in 1912, it was falsely reported that the Astor Trust Company was merging with the Jefferson and Century Banks.[16]

Subsequent mergers

On April 23, 1917, the Astor Trust Company merged with Bankers Trust,[17] which had been talked of for some time as both banks had a number of directors in common (e.g. Seward Prosser was president of the Bankers and a director of the Astor and Edmund C. Converse was president of the Astor and a director of the Bankers).[18] The Astor continued "with no change in management, as the uptown branch of the Bankers Trust Company."[19] The new company had capital of $11,250,000, "undivided profit of more than $5,000,000 and deposits of about $300,000,000."[19] Bankers Trust was later acquired by Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997, however, Deutsche Bank agreed to purchase Bankers Trust for $10.1 billion in November 1998.[20] Deutsche Bank sold The Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corporation in February 2003.[21]

Astor Trust Company building
The Astor Trust Co. Building, 1917.

In 1915,[22] the Oceanic Investment Company announced the construction of a new building at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street to replace a commercial building built by the Pottier & Stymus Company c. 1884 (which itself replaced the House of Mansions, which had been built in 1856 by Alexander J. Davis).[23] The new building was named after the Astor Trust Company who was the new building's primary tenant after they took a 21-year lease and agreed to move from their existing offices at 389 Fifth Avenue (and 36th Street) into the new building upon its completion in 1917. Astor's old office was then occupied by the American Red Cross.[24] In the new building:

"The ground floor will be devoted to stores, while the Astor Trust Company, now at Fifth Avenue and Thirty-sixth Street, will occupy the first, second, and third floors, also using the basement for safe deposit vaults. The main banking rooms, while occupying three floors, will be arranged as a single floor, with the ceiling rising thirty-five feet above the main banking room. Three lofty arched windows will overlook Fifth Avenue from the banking floor."[22]

The building was designed by architect Ernest Flagg, who was known for designing the Thomas Cook building at 565 Fifth Avenue. The Astor Trust Company building was eventually renamed the Bankers' Trust building, which stands to this day.[25]

In 1919, Bankers Trust acquired its second uptown location at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street from the Union Trust Company and expanded its main location at 14 Wall Street and Nassau Street by acquiring the property adjacent to their headquarters (which was completed in 1912) from William Waldorf Astor, Baron Astor, for approximately $1,750,000.[26]

Affiliated people

Notable former employees

Notable employees of the bank included:[11]

Board of Directors

Members of the board of directors of the Astor National Bank and Astor Trust Company included:[12][14]

References
Notes
  1. The Astor Court Building was an office building built by John Jacob Astor IV to adjoin the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, at 34th Street and Astor Court (just west of Fifth Avenue). Astor also founded an insurance company to insure the building (and his other building enterprises and completed buildings, as well as to do general insurance business, with J. Hampden Robb as president of the company).[3]
  2. The newly formed Sherman National Bank of New York, of which former Vermont Governor Edward Curtis Smith as president, occupied the vacated offices of the Astor National Bank in the Astor Court Building at 34th Street and Astor Court (just west of Fifth Avenue).[13]
  3. After the death of John Jacob Astor IV on the sinking of RMS Titanic in April 1912, his son, Vincent Astor, was elected to his father's seat on the Board of the Astor Trust Company.[29]
  4. Mechanic's National Bank, which had merged with Manufacturers National Bank in 1904, later acquired the Fourth National Bank, the National Copper Bank, the Produce Exchange Bank, and the Lincoln Trust before Chase National Bank acquired it in 1926.[33]
Sources
  1. "The Astor National Bank" (PDF). The New York Times. 10 February 1898. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. "Opening of Astor National Bank" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 February 1898. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  3. "Banking and Financial News". Bankers Magazine. Bradford Rhodes. 56: 459. 1898. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  4. Brewer, H. Peers (2017). The Emergence of the Trust Company in New York City 1870-1900. Routledge. p. 165. ISBN 9781351610841. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  5. Alphabetical List of National Banks, with the Associations at which Their Notes are Redeemed: Also a List of National Banks in the Principal Cities, with the Associations the Notes of which are Redeemed by Them. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1870. p. 11. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  6. "IN UP-TOWN BANKS.; Prospective Removal of the Mutual Into Sixth National's Old Quarters" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 January 1899. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  7. "Ten Million Dollar Banks" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 July 1902. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  8. "ALEXANDER H. STEVENS DIES; Vice President of the Astor Trust Company Was in His 83d Year" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 July 1916. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  9. "Bank Statement" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 January 1900. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  10. "E.C. CONVERSE DIES OF HEART DISEASE; New York Capitalist Stricken Suddenly at Pasadena, Cal., in His 72d Year. LONG A POWER IN FINANCE He Had Been President of Bankers' Trust Co., Astor Trust Co. and Liberty National Bank" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 April 1921. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  11. "New York City | Astor Bank & Trust Company Merger". Trusts and Estates. Trust Companies Pub. Association. 4: 186. 1907. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  12. "ASTOR NATIONAL ABSORBS TRUST CO Merger with New Netherlands to Have a Cash Capital of $1,250,000. HAS POWERFUL BACKING New Concern to be the Astor Trust Company — Will Have Fifth Avenue Offices" (PDF). The New York Times. February 18, 1907. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  13. "Banking". Dickerman's United States Treasury Counterfeit Detector | the Standard Authority. W. Dickerman. 24 (8): 13. August 1907. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  14. Times, Special to The New York (19 December 1912). "$25,000,000,000 Resources Represented in 180 Men" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  15. Lindbergh, Charles August (1911). Hearings on House Resolution No. 314: Authorizing the Appointment of a Committee to Investigate as to Whether There are Not Combinations of Financial and Other Concerns who Control Money and Credits, and Operate in Restraint of Trade Through that Control. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1001. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  16. "Astor Trust Company Not in Merger" (PDF). The New York Times. 8 March 1912. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  17. Ingham, John N. (ed.) (1983). Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 187–188. ISBN 978-0-313-23907-6.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  18. "TO ACT ON MERGER TODAY.; Boards of Bankers and Astor Trust Companies Will Take Action" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 March 1917. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  19. "MERGER OF BANKS RATIFIED.; Union of Bankers and Astor Trust Companies Effective April 23" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 April 1917. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  20. Edmund L. Andrews (1 December 1998). "Bank Giant: The Overview; Deutsche Gets Bankers Trust for $10 Billion". The New York Times. NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  21. "Deutsche Bank sells Global Securities Services Business to State Street" (Press release). Deutsche Bank. 5 November 2002. Archived from the original on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  22. "EXPANSION OF BANKING INTERESTS ON UPPER FIFTH AVENUE KEEPING PACE WITH RAPID GROWTH OF SHOPPING TRADE; Astor Trust Company Will Have Fine Offices in New Twenty-Story Building on Forty-Second Street Corner ;- Land Now Assessed for $1,510,000, While Sixty Years Ago Entire Block Was a Vacant Field ;- Startling Transformation in Recent Years" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 August 1915. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  23. "Building on S.E. corner of Fifth Ave. and 42nd St.; corner of reservoir appears at right". digitalcollections.nypl.org. NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  24. "RED CROSS TO MOVE.; Executive Offices to Occupy Present Quarters of Astor Trust Co" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 May 1917. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  25. Kumer, Anne. "From the Archives: House of Mansions to Bankers' Trust". blog.bryantpark.org. Bryant Park Blog. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  26. "Bankers Trust Company Expands". Trust Companies. Trust Companies Pub. Association. 28: 582. 1919. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  27. 'The bankers Trust Company of New York: Seward Prosser succeeds Benjamin Strong, Jr. as President', Banking Law Journal, Jan-Dec 1914.
  28. Harrison, Mitchell C. (1912). PROMINENT AND PROGRESSIVE AMERICANS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CONTEMPORANEOUS BIOGRAPHY, Vol. 1 (PDF). New York: New York Tribune. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  29. "VINCENT ASTOR A DIRECTOR.; Elected to His Father's Seat on Board of the Astor Trust Company" (PDF). The New York Times. 1 December 1912. pp. 16–22. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  30. "ANNUAL BANK ELECTIONS; National and State Institutions Elect Their Directors. Shareholders Some of the Trust Companies Also Choose Their Board -- Some Banks Also Elect Officers" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 January 1903. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  31. "JOHN I. DOWNEY, BANKER, 84, DIES; Ex-Officer of the Fifth Ave. and Bank of New York" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 April 1961. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  32. "EDWARD MARSTON, BANKER, DIES AT 75; Former President of Blair & Co., Brokers, Is Stricken Suddenly in Los Angeles" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 September 1935. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  33. "GATES W. M'GARRAH, NOTED BANKER, DIES; First President of Bank for International Settlements, Founded After the War EX-HEAD OF RESERVE BANK Began Career as Office Boy-- Had Been Director on Many Boards--Effected Mergers" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 November 1940. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  34. Markham, Jerry W. (2002). A Financial History of the United States: From Christopher Columbus to the Robber Barons (1492-1900). M.E. Sharpe. p. 24. ISBN 9780765607300. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
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