Louis Welton Dawson (November 26, 1896 – December 17, 1989) was an American lawyer and 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 ...

Early life

Dawson was born on November 26, 1896, in

Boonton, New Jersey Boonton is a Town (New Jersey), town in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 20 ...

. He was a son of Nicholas Jacobus Dawson and Alice Louise ( Crevier) Dawson. He attended Cornell University School of Law, where he graduated from in 1919 and served as Student Editor-in-Chief of ''The

Cornell Law Quarterly The ''Cornell Law Review'' is the flagship legal journal of Cornell Law School. Originally published in 1915 as the ''Cornell Law Quarterly'', the journal features scholarship in all fields of law. Notably, past issues of the ''Cornell Law Revi ...

''. He had been awarded the Boardman scholarship for the year 1918-1919 and was elected to membership in the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

Career

Dawson was admitted to the New York bar in 1921 and became a partner of the

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

law firm, Powell, Lowrie & Ruch. In 1928, Dawson began working in the law department of

before becoming vice president and general counsel in 1938. He was elected to the board of trustees in 1941. In September 1948, following the death of

Alexander E. Patterson 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. He was the grandson of U.S. Senator John J. Patterson. Early life Patte ...

, Dawson took active charge of operations and was made executive vice president in January 1949, but was not elected president until March 1950. In September 1959,

Roger Hull James Roger Hull (November 17, 1907 – February 6, 1972) was an American insurance executive who spent his entire career with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, becoming president in 1959 and chairman in 1967. Early life Hull was born ...

became president and chief executive officer while Dawson was elected to chairman of the board of trustees replacing Ambassador

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 ...

. He retired as chairman of the board of trustees in December 1961. In 1967, Dawson retired as chairman of the company and was succeeded by Hull. In 1953, he was elected president of the Life Insurance Association of America, succeeding Morton Boyd. Dawson also served as chairman of the Temporary Committee on the Taxation of Mutual Life Insurance Companies. In that capacity, he testified before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Internal Revenue Taxation of the

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

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, ...

in November 1958.

Personal life

On July 16, 1936, Dawson was married to Elizabeth "Bobby" Byrne and lived in Ridgewood, New Jersey. With his first wife, Harriet Smith Dawson, Louis was the father of Charles Craig Dawson (1924–2009). Dawson died on December 17, 1989, in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

.Louis Welton Dawson, ''U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Louis W. 1896 births 1989 deaths New Jersey lawyers People from Boonton, New Jersey People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Cornell Law School alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers American chief executives of financial services companies