Alexander Evans Patterson (June 23, 1887 – September 10, 1948) was an American insurance executive who served as president of the

Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (also known as Mutual of New York or MONY) was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wh ...

. He was the grandson of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John J. Patterson John James "Honest John" Patterson (August 8, 1830September 28, 1912) was a businessman and United States Senator from South Carolina. He was a Republican. Biography Born and raised in Waterloo, a populated place in Juniata County, Pennsylvania ...

Early life

Patterson was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on June 23, 1887. He was a son of attorney William H. Patterson (1856–1908) and Georgie Anna ( Evans) Patterson (1856–1923), who later moved to

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

, and his elder brother was William Hart Patterson, a "pioneer in the development of high-speed electric elevators and perfection of automatic control for elevators." His paternal grandparents were

John James Patterson and Lucretia ( Moore) Patterson. He graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Career

Patterson began his career at the Equitable Life Assurance Society of Pittsburgh. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served overseas as a major in the field infantry with the 79th Division. After the War, he returned to the Pittsburgh office of Equitable before being transferred to New YOrk City in 1922 to establish a new agency there. In 1925 he moved to Chicago to lead Equitable's largest agency there. In 1928 he joined

Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Penn may refer to: Places England * Penn, Buckinghamshire * Penn, West Midlands United States * Penn, North Dakota Penn (also Lauren) is an unincorporated community in western Ramsey County, North Dakota, United States. It lies along U.S. Route ...

as general agent for Chicago and the State of Illinois. In 1937 he was made vice president of Penn Mutual. He joined the

in 1941, resigning as vice president of Penn Mutual of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He was made executive vice president in January 1942 and was elected to the board of trustees of Mutual Life in February 1942. In 1947, Patterson was elected president of Mutual Life to succeed

Lewis Williams Douglas Lewis Williams Douglas (July 2, 1894March 7, 1974) was an American politician, diplomat, businessman and academic. Early life and education Douglas was the son of James Douglas, Jr., a mining executive employed by the Phelps Dodge Company, and hi ...

, who had been appointed as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

. While president, he initiated the construction of the

Mutual of New York Building 1740 Broadway (formerly the MONY Building or Mutual of New York Building) is a 26-story building on the east side of Broadway, between 55th and 56th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building is owned by EQ O ...

1740 Broadway 1740 Broadway (formerly the MONY Building or Mutual of New York Building) is a 26-story building on the east side of Broadway, between 55th and 56th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building is owned by EQ Of ...

, which was completed in 1950 after his death. Patterson served four years as an officer and trustee of the National Association of Life Underwriters before being elected vice president and then president in 1936. IN 1939 he was named chairman of the Association of Life Agency Officers. He also served as a trustee of

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fac ...

in New York, a director of the New York chapter of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

and was a national trustee of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Personal life

In 1920, Patterson was married to Eleanor Morgan (1895–1999), a daughter of Henry G. Morgan and Rhoda ( Price) Morgan. Together, they lived at 455 East 57th Street in Manhattan and had a summer home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Together, they were the parents of two children, Alexander E. Patterson Jr. and Portia Coxe Patterson (who married Robert H. Westerfield). Patterson died of heart attack in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

while visiting his grandnephew, Rolon Reed, a patient in East Orange General Hospital on September 10, 1948. His funeral was held at St. James' Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Alexander E. 1887 births 1948 deaths University of Pittsburgh alumni People from Turtle Bay, Manhattan People from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives of financial services companies