Morris Robinson (September 2, 1784 – May 5, 1849) was an American businessman from a family of prominent

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

s; Robinson was a founder and the first 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

Robinson was born on September 2, 1784. He was a son of Lt.-Col. Beverly Robinson, a

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and Anna Dorothea Barclay. Among his siblings were elder brother, Beverley Robinson, who married Frances Duer (and elder sister of Morris' wife Henrietta), and Roxanne Robinson, who married Joseph T. Mabie. His paternal grandparents were merchant

Beverley Robinson Beverley Robinson (11 January 1721 – 9 April 1792), was a Virginia-born soldier who became a wealthy colonist of the Province of New York and is best known as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. Robinson married Susanna Philips ...

and

Susanna Philipse Susanna Philipse (also "Susannah"; 8 September 1727 – 22 November 1822) was the eldest surviving daughter of Frederick Philipse II, 2nd Lord of Philipsburg Manor of Westchester County, New York. She was, along with her elder brother Philip Phi ...

(the eldest surviving daughter of Frederick Philipse II, 2nd Lord of Philipsburg Manor). Among his large extended family was uncle Sir

Frederick Philipse Robinson Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB (September 1763 – 1 January 1852) was a soldier who fought for Britain during the American War of Independence. His father, Colonel Beverley Robinson, was a Virginian who moved to New York, marrying a wea ...

, a prominent

. His maternal grandparents were the Rev. Henry Barclay, rector of Trinity Church, and Mary Rutgers Barclay. His uncle was

Thomas Henry Barclay Thomas Henry Barclay (October 12, 1753 – April 21, 1830) was an American lawyer who became one of the United Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia and served in the colony's government. Early life Thomas Henry Barclay came from a prominent New York f ...

Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia The Speaker for the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia is the presiding Officer of the House of Assembly. Keith Bain is the current Speaker of the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia. The Speaker presides over the proceedings of the Assembly, maint ...

Career

In 1841, Robinson and Alfred Shipley Pell, who had worked for the Mutual Safety Insurance Company, decided to form a life insurance company with Robinson as president. They received a charter for the

from the state of New York for The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York on April 12, 1842, and opened the doors for business less than a year later on February 1, 1843. Robinson served as president of Mutual Life until his death in May 1849 after which he was succeeded by Joseph B. Collins.

Personal life

On December 1, 1813, Robinson was married to Henrietta Elizabeth Duer (1790–1839), a daughter of

Continental Congressman The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

William Duer and Lady

Catherine Alexander Duer Catherine Alexander Duer (March 8, 1755 – July 26, 1826) was a society figure and political hostess in the early American republic. Early life Catherine Alexander was born in 1755, the daughter of General William Alexander and Sarah Livings ...

(a daughter of Sarah (

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

) Alexander and William Alexander, Lord Stirling). Among her siblings were Justice

William Alexander Duer William Alexander Duer (September 8, 1780 – May 30, 1858) was an American lawyer, jurist, and educator from New York City who served as the President of Columbia University from 1829 to 1842. He was also a slaveholder, owning numerous enslave ...

and jurist John Duer. Together, they were the parents of: * Catherine Alexander Robinson (b. 1814), who married Alexander Slidell-Mackenzie, son of bank president John Slidell and brother of U.S. Senator John Slidell and Jane Slidell (wife of Commodore

Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...

), in 1835. * Henry Barclay Robinson (b. 1816), who married Cather Elizabeth Hudson, daughter of Joseph Hudson, in 1845. After her death in 1846, he married Maria Antoinette Winthrop, a daughter of Thomas C. Winthrop, Esq. in 1855. * Susan Phillipse Robinson (b. 1818), who married Dr. George M. Odell in 1862. * Frances Duer Robinson (1822), who married Edward Jones in 1841. * Harriet Duer Robinson (b. 1828), who married Albert Gallatin II, son of

James Gallatin James Gallatin (December 18, 1796 – May 29, 1876) was an American banker who was the son of Albert Gallatin. Early life He was the eldest of two sons and four daughters born to Hannah ( Nicholson) Gallatin and Albert Gallatin, the 4th U.S. Secr ...

(president of the Gallatin National Bank) and grandson of Albert Gallatin (the 4th

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

who served as the

U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the American government to the monarch ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), in 1849. His wife Henrietta died in 1839. Robinson died in New York City on May 5, 1849, and his funeral was held at St. Thomas Church.

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter, he was a grandfather of Gen. Ranald Slidell Mackenzie (1840–1889) and Lt.-Com. Alexander Slidell MacKenzie (1842–1867).

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Morris 1784 births 1849 deaths Businesspeople from New York (state) American businesspeople in insurance American corporate directors American bankers 19th-century American businesspeople Canadian emigrants to the United States