Isaac Newton Seligman (July 10, 1855 – September 30, 1917) was an American banker and communal worker.

Early life

Seligman attended Columbia Grammar School and Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1876. At Columbia, he was one of the crew that won the university eight-oar college race on Saratoga Lake in 1874 over Yale, Harvard, and nine other schools.

Career

In 1878, after a two-year

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in the firm of Seligman & Hellman in New Orleans, he joined the New York branch, of which he became head in 1885, on the death of his father

Joseph Seligman Joseph Seligman (November 22, 1819 – April 25, 1880) was an American banker and businessman who founded J. & W. Seligman & Co. He was the patriarch of what became known as the Seligman family in USA and was subsequently related to the wealthy ...

and his brother. He was connected with almost all the important social reform committees in New York. He was a trustee of nineteen important commercial, financial, and other institutions and societies, including the Munich Life Assurance Company, St. John's Guild, and the McKinley Memorial Association. He was a member of the

Committee of Seventy The Committee of Seventy is an independent, non-partisan advocate for better government in Philadelphia that works to achieve clean and effective government, better elections, and informed and engaged citizens. Founded in 1904, it is a nonprofit ...

, of Fifteen, and of Nine, each of which attempted at various times to reform municipal government in New York; of the last-named body he was chairman. He was a trustee of Temple Emanu-El and of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, as well as of the United Hebrew Charities, and also a member of the Ethical Culture Society. He was married to Guta Loeb (1865–1956), daughter of banker

Solomon Loeb Solomon Loeb (June 29, 1828 – December 12, 1903) was a German-born American banker and businessman. He was a merchant in textiles and later a banker with Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Biography His father, a devout Jew, had been a small corn- and wine ...

. His portrait, three-quarter length seated, was painted by the Swiss-born American artist

Adolfo Müller-Ury Adolfo Müller-Ury, KSG (March 29, 1862 – July 6, 1947) was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life. Heritage and early life in Switzerland He was born Felice Adolfo Müller on 29 March ...

(1862–1947) but is now missing. Muller-Ury also painted the portrait of his five-year-old son Joseph L. Seligman (1886–1944) in 1891, which was exhibited in January 1892. He died in 1917 after falling from his horse while riding to work in New York City from his summer home in Irvington, NY, a ride of about 25 miles. His estate, which was estimated between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000 went to his son and widow. He made charitable gifts of $100,000.

References

* *''Bankers' Magazine'', March 1899 *Union Historical Association, 1901, special issue *''New York Tribune'', July 4, 1899 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seligman, Isaac Newton 1855 births Jewish American bankers Columbia College (New York) alumni Businesspeople from New York City 1917 deaths Ethical movement Loeb family Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Deaths from falls