Percy Rivington Pyne II (May 5, 1857 – August 22, 1929) was a banker, financier, and philanthropist.

Early life

Pyne was born on May 5, 1857, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, the son of Percy Rivington Pyne I (1820-1895) and Albertina Shelton (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Taylor) Pyne (1833–1900). His maternal grandfather was

Moses Taylor Moses Taylor (January 11, 1806 – May 23, 1882) was a 19th-century New York merchant and banker and one of the wealthiest men of that century. At his death, his estate was reported to be worth $70 million, or about $ billion in today's dollars. ...

, founder of the

First National City Bank of New York Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

and a stockholder in the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

. His older brother,

Moses Taylor Pyne Moses Taylor Pyne (December 21, 1855 – April 22, 1921), was an American financier and philanthropist, and one of Princeton University's greatest benefactors and its most influential trustee. Biography The son of Percy Rivington Pyne (182 ...

, inherited much of the family fortune and was a major benefactor of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. Pyne received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from Princeton in 1878 and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1881.

Career

He began his business career under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather, Moses Taylor, serving as a partner in the firm of Moses Taylor & Co. He would follow in his grandfather's footsteps, becoming director of the National City Bank as well as manager of the

. From 1903 to 1922, Pyne also served as treasurer of the

New York Zoological Society New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Residences

In New York City, Pyne and his family lived at 680

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

at the corner of East 68th Street, now home to the

Americas Society The Americas Society is an organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue on the Americas. It is located at 680 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and was established by David Rockefeller in 1965. The Americas Society pr ...

. In 1899, he built the mansion Upton Pyne in

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville () is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is nestled in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,707,

, as a summer home. It was named after

Upton Pyne Upton Pyne is a parish and village in Devon, England. The parish lies just north west of Exeter, mainly between the River Exe and River Creedy. The village is located north of Cowley and west of Brampford Speke and Stoke Canon. It has a populat ...

Devon, England Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon i ...

, his family's ancestral manor. It was the largest mansion in the area until it was torn down by his daughter in 1982.

Personal life

On June 20, 1889, he married Maud Howland (1866–1952), daughter of New York merchant Gardiner Greene Howland.Reynolds, Cuyler
''Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley''
Vol. 3 (1914), pp. 1413-14. Maud's brother Dulany Howland married Marguerite McClure, who later remarried Ogden Haggerty Hammond, the father of

Millicent Fenwick Millicent Vernon Hammond Fenwick (February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992) was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics ...

. Together, Percy and Maud Pyne had five children: * Grafton Howland Pyne (1890–1935), who married Leta Constance Wright (1892–1957), a daughter of Eben Wright. * Herbert Rivington Pyne (1892–1952), who married Florence Ledyard Blair (1893–1982), daughter of banker

C. Ledyard Blair Clinton Ledyard Blair (July 16, 1867 – February 7, 1949) was an American investment banker and yachtsman. Early years Blair was born in Belvidere, New Jersey, on July 16, 1867. He was the son of DeWitt Clinton Blair, a philanthropist and ind ...

. * Mary Percy Pyne (b. November 27, 1893, d. May 10, 1994), who married Oliver Dwight Filley (1883–1961), a grandson of

Oliver Filley Oliver Dwight Filley (May 23, 1806August 21, 1881) was an American businessman, abolitionist, and politician who served as the 16th mayor of St. Louis, Missouri from 1858 to 1861. Early life Filley was born on May 23, 1806 in Bloomfield, Connec ...

and cousin of

Dwight F. Davis Dwight Filley Davis Sr. (July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition. He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1923 to ...

. In 1963 she married

Charles Suydam Cutting Charles Suydam Cutting, CBE (January 17, 1889 – August 24, 1972) was an explorer, naturalist, society figure, philanthropist, and author. He travelled around the world on numerous expeditions including the Field Museum-Chicago Daily News Abyssin ...

(1889-1972). * Percy Rivington Pyne Jr. (1896–1941), a flier with the

103d Aero Squadron The 103rd Aero Squadron was an aviation pursuit squadron of the U.S. Air Service that served in combat in France during World War I. Its original complement included pilots from the disbanded Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps. One ...

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 ...

. * Meredith Howland Pyne (b. October 5, 1898, d. November 25, 1927), who did not marry. Pyne died at his

, home on August 22, 1929, at the age of 72.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyne, Percy Rivington 1857 births 1929 deaths Businesspeople from New York City People from Bernardsville, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Citigroup people Wildlife Conservation Society people Pyne banking family Rivington family