James Handasyd Perkins (January 11, 1876 – July 12, 1940) was a chairman of National City Bank.

Biography

Perkins was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on January 11, 1876, to Edward Cranch Perkins and Jane Sedgwick Watson. He attended the Milton Academy and graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1898. He was with the Walter Baker chocolate company in hometown until 1905. He moved to American Trust Company in Boston and then to National Commercial Bank in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, where he was president in 1912 and 1914 when he moved to National City Bank as a vice president. Perkins served 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 ...

. After the war he joined Montgomery & Co. In 1921, he was elected president of Farmers' Loan and Trust Company. Farmers merged with National City Bank in 1929 and he became president of the new bank. He became chairman in 1933. In attempts to keep the bank afloat during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

par value was cut by 40 percent and $50 million in preferred stock was sold to the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...

. He died of a heart attack while still chairman shortly after having dinner with Arthur M. Anderson in

Mount Kisco, New York Mount Kisco is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous municipality, coterminous with the vil ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, James 1876 births 1940 deaths Citigroup people Harvard University alumni People from Milton, Massachusetts Milton Academy alumni