James F. D. Lanier

James Franklin Doughty Lanier II (June 25, 1858 – May 16, 1928)[1] was an American banker and sportsman who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age.

James Lanier
Born(1858-06-25)June 25, 1858
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 1928(1928-05-16) (aged 69)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationSt. Paul's School
Alma materPrinceton University
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1885; his death 1928)​
Children2
Parent(s)Charles D. Lanier
Sarah Eggleston Lanier
RelativesJames Lanier (grandfather)
Charles Lawrance (nephew)

Early life

Lanier was born at his grandmother's residence, 10 Fifth Avenue in New York City, on June 25, 1858.[1] He was the son of Charles D. Lanier (1837–1926)[2] and Sarah (née Eggleston) Lanier (1837–1898).[3] Among his siblings was Sarah Eggleston Lanier, who married Francis Cooper Lawrance Jr. (parents of engineer Charles Lawrence[4] and Kitty Lanier Lawrance who married W. Averell Harriman;[5][6] Francis married Susan Ridgway Willing after Sarah's death);[7] Fanny Lanier,[8] who marriedFrancis Randall Appleton;[9] and Elizabeth Gardner Lanier,[10] who married George Evans Turnure.[2][11]

His paternal grandfather was Thomas Eggleston.[12] His paternal grandparents were his namesake, James Franklin Doughty Lanier and Elizabeth (née Gardner) Lanier.[2][13] In 1655, his ancestor, Thomas Lanier, a French Huguenot refugee, came to America accompanied by John Washington, the great-grandfather of President George Washington. Thomas, who settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia, married Washington's daughter, Anne Washington (1662–1697).[2]

Lanier attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and graduated from Princeton University in 1880.[1]

Career

After graduating from Princeton in 1880, Lanier joined the family banking business of Winslow, Lanier & Co., founded by his grandfather in 1849.[14] Lanier worked at Winslow, Lanier until his father's death in 1926,[14] when he was succeeded by his surviving son, Reginald.[1]

Society life

In 1892, Lanier and his wife were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[15][16] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[17]

He was one of the founders of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club,[18] and one of the first automobile drivers in America, strongly interested in motor touring and racing.[19] He was a member of the Automobile Club of America, the Knickerbocker Club, the Racquet and Tennis Club, and the Turf and Field Clubs.[1]

Soon after the incorporation of the Mead Brook Club, Lanier had an estate, designed by prominent architect James Brown Lord, built in Old Westbury on Long Island that was completed in 1891.[20] He sold the home, which he had been renting to Clarence Mackay, in 1900 to Hamilton Cary for $100,000.[21] The Laniers also spent summers at "Gravel Court",[22] off of Clay Street, in Newport, Rhode Island.[23]

Personal life

In 1885, Lanier was married to Harriet Bishop (1866–1931).[24] Harriet was the daughter of Heber R. Bishop.[25] In early 1900, Lanier purchased two adjacent 1854 brownstones located between Park and Lexington Avenues in Murray Hill, for $31,000 which he torn down to build his family residence.[19] In 1903, Lanier and his wife moved into the, now landmarked, home they had built at 123 East 35th Street in Murray Hill.[26] The home was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Hoppin & Koen.[27] Together, they were the parents of:

Upon his father's death in 1926, the elder Lanier left an estate valued at $9,677,364, the bulk of which was left to James and his siblings.[31][32]

Lanier died on May 16, 1928 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in New York City.[1] He was buried alongside his wife at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Upon his death, he left an estate valued at around $10,000,000 which was left to his son Reginald after his widow's death,[19] in 1931.[25]

References
  1. "J.F.D. LANIER, BANKER, DIES IN HIS 70TH YEAR; Member of Old Family of Financiers Was a PioneerAutomobile Driver" (PDF). The New York Times. May 17, 1928. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  2. "CHARLES LANIER, BANKER, DIES AT 89; Senior Member of Winslow, Lanier & Co. for 63 Years Is Victim of Apoplexy. CAME OF A NOTED FAMILY Had a Common Ancestor With Washington -- In Many Big Transactions -- Funeral Tomorrow". The New York Times. 8 March 1926. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  3. Welles, Albert (1879). The Pedigree and History of the Washington Family: Derived from Odin, the Founder of Scandinavia, B.C. 70, Involving a Period of Eighteen Centuries, and Including Fifty-five Generations, Down to General George Washington, First President of the United States. Society Library. p. 121. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. "C.L. LAWRANCE, 67, AN INVENTOR, DIES; Developed Wright Whirlwind Engine That Powered Noted Distance Plane Flights". timesmachine.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  5. Staff (July 3, 1915). "MISS LAWRANCE TO WED W. A. HARRIMAN Romance in Match of Late Railroad Magnate's Son and C. Lanier's Granddaughter. FIANCEE A SPORTS DEVOTEE Just Recovered from Injury Received While Horseback Riding with the Young Financier". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  6. "Mrs. W. Averell Harriman Dies; Former Governor's Wife Was 67". New York Times. September 27, 1970. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  7. Kerstein, Bob. "Charles Lanier". smokershistory.com. Bank History, Central Trust Company of New York. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  8. Times, Special To The New York (5 June 1958). "Obituary -- APPLETON". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  9. "FRANCIS R. APPLETON DIES AT COUNTRY HOME; Retired New York Business Man and a Former Harvard Overseer". The New York Times. 3 January 1929. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  10. "MRS. ELIZABETH TURNURE; Her Ancestor and Washington's Came to America Together". The New York Times. 26 December 1935. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  11. "GEORGE E. TURNURE, BANKER, DIES AT 77; Was a Director of Insurance Companies -- Father of Avia- tor Killed in War". The New York Times. 26 December 1933. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  12. "DIED. Lanier". The New York Times. 19 April 1898. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  13. "THE FUNERAL OF JAMES F.D. LANIER". The New York Times. 31 August 1881. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  14. Ingham, John N. (1983). Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 759. ISBN 9780313239083. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  15. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  16. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 212. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  17. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  18. Pommer, Alfred; Pommer, Joyce (2013). Exploring Manhattan's Murray Hill. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9781625845153. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  19. "A Piece of Paris in Murray Hill: The James F.D. Lanier Residence". Curbed NY. October 1, 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  20. Mateyunas, Paul J. (2012). Long Island's Gold Coast. Arcadia Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 9780738591315. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  21. Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. F. W. Dodge Corporation. 1900. p. 390. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  22. Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1917. p. 168. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  23. "2017 Portraits Patrons". www.newportmansions.org. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  24. "LANIER--BISHOP". The New York Times. November 25, 1885. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  25. "NOTABLES MOURN MRS. H. B. LANIER; Artur Bodanzky Leads Chorus of Friends in Music From St. John Passion. ORCHESTRA MEN ATTEND figures in Music World Also Join Relatives in Tribute to the Founder of Group". The New York Times. 4 November 1931. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  26. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., p.106
  27. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  28. "CHARLES LANIER II DEAD". The Billings Gazette. December 7, 1918. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  29. "Reginald Lanier, 90, Ex-Banker; Headed Land and Cattle Concern" (PDF). The New York Times. August 30, 1979. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  30. "MISS CAMERON WED TO REGINALD LANIER; Bishop Rhinelander, Bride's Cousin, Performs Ceremony in Cathedral of St. John. RECEPTION AT KING HOME Bride Is the Daughter of the Late Archdeacon Lewis Cameron of New Jersey". The New York Times. 13 December 1921. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  31. "LANIER'S WILL LEAVES GIFTS TO CHARITY; Banker's Will Gives Silver Zodiac Tray to J.P. Morgan -- Employes Remembered". The New York Times. 23 March 1926. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  32. "LANIER LEFT ESTATE OF $9,677,364 NET; Broker's Securities Appraised at $4,402,858 and His Interest in Firm $4,617,418. BULK GOES TO FAMILY His Secretary Gets $40,000 Bequest -- Memento to His Friend J.P. Morgan". The New York Times. 22 November 1927. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
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