Harvey Dow Gibson (March 12, 1882 – September 11, 1950) was an American businessman.

Early life

Harvey Dow Gibson was born on March 12, 1882, at

North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...

Carroll County, New Hampshire Carroll County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 50,107, making it the third-least populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat is O ...

. He was the son of James Lewis Gibson (1855–1933) and Addie ( ée-enDow) Gibson (1854–1934). His father was telegraph operator for the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad. He attended

Fryeburg Academy Fryeburg Academy, founded in 1792, is one of the oldest private schools in the United States, located in Fryeburg, Maine. Among notable faculty, Daniel Webster was one of the first Heads of School, teaching at the school for a year. Boarding stu ...

, graduating in 1898. From Fryeburg, he went on to

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

, graduating in 1902.

Career

Gibson began his career with the

American Express Company American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

, then later with Liberty National Bank, where he became president in 1916. As a result of the merger between Liberty National Bank and

New York Trust Company The New York Trust Company was a large trust and wholesale-banking business that specialized in servicing large industrial accounts. It merged with the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank and eventually the merged entity became Chemical Bank. History On ...

, he became president of the latter. In December, 1930, as part of a plan by the

New York Clearing House The Clearing House is a banking association and payments company owned by the largest commercial banks in the United States. The Clearing House is the parent organization of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., which owns and operates core ...

and the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New ...

to stem bank runs, Gibson headed a group of investors which purchased the controlling interest in the

Manufacturers Trust Company Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York City, New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsid ...

from

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

, and he became president of the bank on January 5, 1931. In 1931, Gibson received

The Hundred Year Association of New York The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City that recognizes and rewards dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the ...

's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." Gibson was active with 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 ...

, serving as its Commissioner in France 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 ...

, and as Commissioner to Great Britain during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Other interests

He founded the

Cranmore Mountain Resort Cranmore Mountain Resort, operating in the summer as Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park, is a ski area located in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States. It began operations in 1937, and was owned until 1984 by the Schneider family. During the ...

in 1937, importing Austrian ski instructor

Hannes Schneider Johann "Hannes" Schneider (24 June 1890 – 26 April 1955) was an Austrian ski instructor of the first half of the 20th century, famous for pioneering the Arlberg technique of instruction. Many consider him the Father of Modern Day Skiing. A ...

to teach guests how to ski. He bought the

Eastern Slope Inn The Eastern Slope Inn is a historic hotel at 2760 White Mountain Highway (U.S. Route 302) in North Conway, Carroll County, New Hampshire. Built in 1926, it is one of the community's most prominent examples of large-scale Colonial Revival archite ...

in the same year, and served on the executive board of the New York World's Fair in 1939 and 1940.

Personal life

On June 10, 1903, Gibson was married to Carrie Hastings Curtis. After their divorce in 1925, he married Helen Cole (née Whitney) Bourne (1890–1974), the former wife of George Galt Bourne, on March 12, 1926. He died on September 11, 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was buried at North Conway Cemetery in North Conway, New Hampshire.

References

External links

*
The Gibson/Woodbury Charitable Foundation

Harvey D. Gibson, President of Liberty National Bank, new head of the American Red Cross
(March 1919) at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Harvey Dow 1882 births 1950 deaths Fryeburg Academy alumni Bowdoin College alumni American bankers