Richard Aldrich McCurdy (January 29, 1835,
New York City – March 6, 1916,
) was an American attorney, business executive and banker during the
Gilded Age. He served as the President of the
Mutual Life Insurance Company from 1885 to 1906, when he retired in the wake of a corporate scandal.
Early life
Richard Aldrich McCurdy was born on January 29, 1835, in
New York City.
[ ] His father,
Robert Henry McCurdy, was a prominent New York City businessman.
His mother, Gertrude Mercer Lee, was the niece of
Theodore Frelinghuysen, a United States Senator and former vice presidential candidate.
McCurdy was of
Scotch Irish
Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people, an ethnic group in Ulster, Ireland, who trace their roots to settlers from Scotland
* Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots who first migrated to America in large numbe ...
descent on his paternal side; as early as 1503, King
James VI leased the vast majority of the
Isle of Bute to the MacKurerdy family (later McCurdy).
His paternal great-grandfather, John McCurdy, emigrated to the United States from Ireland prior to the
Declaration of Independence.
His paternal uncle,
Charles J. McCurdy
Charles Johnson McCurdy (December 7, 1797 – June 8, 1891) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1847 to 1849.
Early life
Charles J. McCurdy was born at Lyme, Connecticut. His father, Richard McC ...
, served as the
United States Chargé to the Austrian Empire from 1850 to 1852.
McCurdy received a law degree from the
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1856.
Career
McCurdy was practised law with William Betts Jr., and
Lucius Robinson, who served as the 26th Governor of New York from 1877 to 1879.
[ ]
McCurdy became legal counsel to the
Mutual Life Insurance Company from 1860 to 1865.
He became its vice president in 1865.
He served as its President from 1885 to 1906.
[ ] Under his leadership, the Mutual Life Insurance Company Building was built in Manhattan; according to John N. Ingham, "it was at that time the largest office structure in the world."
Moreover, "the assets of Mutual Life grew from $103,627,812 to $476,861,165" from 1883 to 1903.
However, McCurdy and other Mutual Life executives were accused of misappropriation of the company assets.
By 1905, McCurdy was questioned over the salary his son received from the company.
[ ][ ] He retired in this midst of the scandal, in 1906.
[ ]
When the newly formed
Mutual Alliance Trust Company opened for business in New York on the Tuesday after June 29, 1902, there were 13 directors, including
Emanuel Lehman,
William Rockefeller,
Cornelius Vanderbilt, and McCurdy.
Additionally, McCurdy served as the President of the
Bell Telephone Company
The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company – the New Englan ...
.
He also served as vice president and director of the Western National Bank of the United States in New York.
[ ] Moreover, he served on the board of directors of the United States Mortgage & Trust Company.
[ ]
Personal life
McCurdy married Sarah Ellen Little, daughter of
Charles Coffin Little, on 22 October 1856.
They had two children, Robert H. McCurdy (who married Mary Suckley), and Gertrude Lee McCurdy (who married
Louis A. Thebaud
Louis A. Thebaud (October 24, 1859 – April 2, 1939) was an American businessman, sportsman and philanthropist in the Gilded Age. After working for C. H. Raymond & Co., a contractor of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Mutual Life Ins ...
).
They resided on lower
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in
Manhattan, New York City, until they moved to a mansion
Morris Plains, New Jersey, followed by another mansion in
.
[ ]
McCurdy's sister Gertrude married
Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first president of the Bell Telephone Company and a founder of the National Geographic Society. McCurdy was thus the uncle of their daughter, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, who married
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
.
McCurdy was a member of the
Metropolitan Club, the
Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City that was founded in 1863 in affiliation with the Union League. Its fourth and current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, in the Murray Hill ...
, the
Manhattan Club, the
Manhattan Club (social club) and the
Lawyer's Club.
He was also a member of the
New England Society of New York and the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
.
Death
McCurdy died on March 6, 1916, in
.
He was eighty-one years old.
His portrait, painted by
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
in 1890, is in the collection of the
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, a museum noted for its ''art nouveau'' collection, houses the most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany found anywhere, a major collection of American art pottery, and f ...
in
Winter Park, Florida.
His photograph, taken by
Ira W. Martin in 1890, is in the collection of the
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...
on the
Upper East Side of New York City.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCurdy, Richard Aldrich
1835 births
1916 deaths
People from Manhattan
People from Morris Plains, New Jersey
People from Morristown, New Jersey
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Harvard Law School alumni
Businesspeople from New York (state)
American businesspeople in insurance
American corporate directors
American bankers
Mutual Alliance Trust Company people
19th-century American businesspeople