Anson Phelps Stokes

Anson Phelps Stokes (February 22, 1838 – June 28, 1913) was a wealthy American merchant, property developer, banker, genealogist and philanthropist. Born in New York City, he was the son of James Boulter and Caroline Stokes. His paternal grandfather was London merchant Thomas Stokes, one of the 13 founders of the London Missionary Society. His maternal grandfather, Anson Greene Phelps, was a New York merchant, born in Connecticut and descended from an old Connecticut family.

Career

Phelps, Dodge & Co.

Stokes's early education was by tutors from the Union Theological Seminary who instructed him in mathematics, Latin and Greek. He then attended private schools in New York before joining the family business of Phelps, Dodge & Company in 1855 when he was 17. The company was a mercantile establishment founded in 1834 by his grandfather Phelps and his uncles, William Earl Dodge and Daniel James. His father James Stokes was also a partner at this time, having joined in 1847. The company began importing and trading in metal from England and exporting cotton in return, and eventually became a copper mining business. They also developed extensive interests in lumber, property and rail roads. In 1861, he became a partner in the company but left in 1878 to begin a banking business with his father and his father-in-law, Isaac Newton Phelps. The bank named Phelps, Stokes & Company, was disbanded when Stokes's father died in 1881. Stokes was also suffering from an eyesight problem at this time that threatened his vision. Despite this he was appointed temporary administrator of his father estate. The will was contested by James Stokes's daughter, Dora (Stokes) Dale, and her husband Henry and the matter was not settled until 1888.

Real estate

Stokes purchased land in New York and developed the Stokes Building on Cedar Street in collaboration with I. N. Phelps Estates and his sisters. In 1895 he organized the Woodbridge Company, that owned property on William Street, John Street, and Platt Street. Land for Wyllys Building was bought for his son, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, whose architectural practice, Howells & Stokes, carried out the design. In 1902 Stokes organized the Haynes Company, which owned property on Front Street, Burling Slip and a mansion and estate at New Brighton, Staten Island (Curtis High School now occupies the property). Another of his property companies was called Dudley and set up to look after property in Liberty Street and William Street. After his death in 1913 these various property companies and others were consolidated by his sons and his long term financial advisor, John W. McCulloch, to form Phelps Stokes Estate, Inc. The names of the companies, Wyllys, Woodbridge, Haynes and Dudley reflected Stokes's interest in family genealogy, as they were all names of his or his wife's Connecticut ancestors.

Banking

Stokes joined his father-in-law as a director at the Second National Bank and the Mercantile Bank. In 1884 there was a run on the Second National Bank following the misappropriation of funds by the bank's president, John Chester Eno. He had speculated and lost millions of dollars on Wall Street during the panic of that year and was forced to resign, then fled to Canada. The directors, including Issac N. Phelps and Anson Stokes, faced the onerous task of making up the losses. However, Eno's father, Amos R. Eno was persuaded by the board to repay the bulk of the loss. The other directors made up shortfalls to ensure the bank survived the run on deposits.

Nevada mining and railroad

Whilst at Phelps Dodge Corporation, Stokes had involvement with mining in the American West, and after leaving in 1879, he continued his interests by focusing on the silver mining boom town of Austin, Nevada, a place he had visited in 1863. Most of the mining claims had been consolidated into one company called the Manhattan Silver Mining Co. and they desperately needed a railroad. The secretary of the company, M. J. Farrell, became state senator for Lander County and managed to get a railroad line approved, with a bond of $200,000, due to expire in 1880. The proposal was to run a narrow gauge line ninety three miles along the Reese Valley to connect Austin to the Central Pacific main line at Battle Mountain. It was not until Stokes became involved that the project got started with only months left on the bond. Stokes brought in General James H. Ledlie, a former Union officer in the Civil War, to direct the project, and crews went to work, only to bring the line within of the Austin town limits with less than a day left before the deadline. An emergency meeting of the Austin Town Board extended the town limits by , allowing the last rails to be laid just minutes before the deadline. The line from Battle Mountain to Austin became the Nevada Central Railway.

On February 25, 1880, Stokes was appointed a director of the Nevada Central Railway. In 1881 the Union Pacific Railroad purchased the line, but they lost money and in 1885 it was sold at bankruptcy back to the bond holders who included Anson Stokes. In 1888 a new company was formed, now called Nevada Central ''Railroad''. The line continued to struggle and was closed in 1938.

Stokes had interests in several companies in Nevada and these were incorporated into the ''Nevada Company'', founded in 1897. His son, James Graham Phelps Stokes, who had recently finished his education at Yale and medical school, became the president. In 1897, when Stokes still had a financial interest in several of the local mines, he built "Stokes Castle", a three-story stone tower just outside Austin for his son. The building was only occupied for a month, then fell into disrepair.

The Austin Mining Company

In July 1891, Stokes met Mr. P. T. Farnsworth, manager of the Horn Silver Mining Company, and Mr. A. C. Washington, president. They owned mining property in Grantsville, Nevada and had done a large business with the Nevada Central Railroad. They had recently surveyed mines in the Austin area and proposed a partnership with Stokes. The company they formed was the Austin Mining Company, organized to undertake silver-mining at Austin, and other areas. The business was initially profitable but, owing largely to the great decline in silver, became unprofitable. In 1898 Stokes was made aware that Farnsworth was not acting in his best interests. A young lawyer, Tasker Oddie, working for Stokes in New York, had been sent to Nevada to look over his mining operations and discovered embezzlement on a huge scale. The operations were shut down and court cases followed as Stokes attempted to recover the money from Farnsworth and Washington. Stokes continued to mine at Berlin near Ione, Nevada.

Politics

Anson Stokes's described his attitude toward politics as follows:

Despite this, he did campaign in New York for the election of Grover Cleveland and fought against Tammany Hall - the Democratic Party machine that controlled much of New York City. Tammany Hall had been run by William “Boss” Tweed who had been convicted of corruption and who died in jail in 1872. After his death Tammany was reformed under new leadership, but by the mid 1890s it had returned to its old corrupt ways, first under "Honest John" Kelly, and then Richard Croker. Several of the wealthy and influential men in the City, including Anson Stokes, came together in 1894/95 to fight Tammany Hall, and formed a “Committee of Seventy”. They succeeded by defeating the Tammany mayoral candidate and installing William Lafayette Strong who ran the City on "business principles".

The Civil Service Reform Association

Stokes was a committee member of the Civil Service Reform Association that included Theodore Roosevelt. The objective of the Association was to establish a system of appointment and promotion in the Civil Service depending upon suitability assessed by competitive examinations, open to all applicants properly qualified, and that removals should be made for legitimate cause only, such as dis-honesty, negligence, or inefficiency, but not for political opinion or refusal to render party service. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 made it law that government positions should be awarded on merit, however the Association continued to push for compliance, improvements, efficiencies and reforms in the U.S Civil Service.

Anti-imperialism

Stokes became chairman of the National Association of Anti-Imperialist Clubs, a movement formed in 1898 to oppose the annexation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines at the end of the Spanish‐American War. He was also an active member and supporter of the free trade league and first president of the New York Reform Club.

Joint metallism

In 1894 Stoke published his proposals on a monetary system that would be based on the combined use of gold and silver called joint metallism. This came at a period of financial difficulties when there were calls to allow both gold and silver coinage to be used as currency, a system called bimetallism. Stokes's interest in this possibly came from his links to silver mining in Nevada and his support for Grover Cleveland, who was against bimetallism, favouring the gold standard. Stokes's book ran to several issues and included a series of letter, quotes and extracts.

Nautical interests

Stokes was a keen yachtsman and was twice elected vice commodore of the New York Yacht Club. The yachts he owned were ''Nereid, Clytie, Sea Fox'' and ''Mermaid''. He was also involved with efforts to standardise the rules used in international yacht racing.

His interests extended to naval warfare. He designed a warship, referred to as a globular naval battery that was a floating fortress, typically used for harbour defence. The idea came from the story of the British naval use of an island in the Caribbean called Diamond Rock

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