Samuel Denison Babcock (May 16, 1822 – September 14, 1902) was an American banker.

Early life

Babock was born on May 16, 1822, in

Stonington, Connecticut The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and W ...

. He was a son of Benjamin Franklin Babcock Sr. and Maria (

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 ...

Eells) Babcock. His ancestors were natives of Essex, among the staunchest of Puritan families, who went to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

before landing in Plymouth Rock in 1623 with one of the first parties of colonists following the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

''. The family grew wealthy and rose to prominence, holding high civil and military positions during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Career

At age fourteen, Babcock moved to New York City and began working as a bank messenger. He later served as president of the International Bell Telephone Company and of the Central, Manhattan, Colonial, and New York Real Estate Associations and the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York; vice president of the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company and the City and Suburban Homes Association; treasurer of the Improved Dwellings Association; a director of the

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

, the

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

Company, the

National Bank of Commerce in New York The National Bank of Commerce in New York was a national bank headquartered in New York City that merged into the Guaranty Trust Company of New York (which later became the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, predecessor to J.P. Morgan & Co.). Histor ...

, the

American Exchange National Bank American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, the Continental Insurance Company, the Guarantee Trust Company, the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company, the United States Mortgage and Trust Company; a trustee of the Central Trust Company, the Fifth Avenue Trust Company, and 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 ...

. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the United States Lloyds. His business partners in property development ventures included William W. Woodworth and Henry L. Atherton. In 1889, he served as president of the Finance Committee for the proposed

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

in New York in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

Personal life

On December 2, 1846, Babcock married Elizabeth Crary Franklin (1828–1881), a daughter of Richard L. Franklin and Evelina (née Crary) Franklin. Elizabeth's younger sister Cornelia Fulton Franklin was married to Samuel's younger brother, Charles Henry Phelps Babcock. Together, they were the parents of: * Henry Denison Babcock (1847–1918), who married Anna Mary Woodward (1849–1923), a daughter of Robert Thomas Woodward. * Evelena Franklin Babcock (1849–1908), who married lawyer William Palmer Dixon (1847–1926) in 1871. * Emily Franklin Babcock (1855–1925), who married banker Fordyce Dwight Barker (1847–1893), a son of Benjamin Fordyce Barker. * Elizabeth Babcock (b. 1857) * Frances Morris "Fanny" Babcock (1858–1940), who married Henry Alexander Murray, a grandson of Lt.-Col.

Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Alexander Murray (son of

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809), known as Lord Dunmore, was a British people, British Peerage, nobleman and Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies, colonial governor in the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies ...

, a governor of the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

). * Maria Babcock (b. 1860) * Parthenia Babcock (1863–1865), who died young. * Kate Spaulding Babcock (1868–1923), who died unmarried. His New York City residence was at 636 Fifth Avenue and he had a country residence, Hillside at Riverdale-on-Hudson, New York. His wife died in their Riverdale residence, Hillside on May 28, 1881. Babcock died on September 14, 1902, at the Livingstone cottage, his long-time summer home in

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and T ...

. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Descendants

Through his son Henry, he was a grandfather of Alice Woodward Babcock (1877–1941), who married banker Henry Rogers Winthrop Jr. (1876–1958), son of Buchanan Winthrop, in 1905. Through his daughter Evelena, he was a grandfather of Evelena Babcock Dixon (1873–1935), who married Eben Stevens, an 1892

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduate who was a son of banker

Alexander Henry Stevens Alexander Henry Stevens (June 13, 1834 – July 10, 1916) was an American banker. Early life Stevens was born on June 13, 1834, in New York City. He was the son of banker Byam Kerby Stevens (1792–1870) and Frances (née Gallatin) Stevens (180 ...

. Through his daughter Fanny, he was a grandfather of Virginia Murray (1890–1980) (who married U.S. Representative

Robert L. Bacon Robert Low Bacon (July 23, 1884 – September 12, 1938) was an American politician, a banker and military officer. He served as a congressman from New York from 1923 until his death in 1938. He is known as one of the authors of the Davis–Baco ...

, son of Secretary of State

Robert Bacon Robert Bacon (July 5, 1860 – May 29, 1919) was an American statesman and diplomat. He was also a leading banker and businessman who worked closely with Secretary of State Elihu Root, 1905-1909, and served as United States Secretary of Sta ...

Henry Murray Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University, where from 1959 to 1962 he conducted a series of psychologically damaging and purposefully abusive experiments on minors and underg ...

(1893–1988), the

Harvard 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 ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

who developed a theory of

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, mos ...

called personology, and Dr. Cecil Dunmore Murray (1897–1935).

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Samuel D. 1822 births 1902 deaths American bankers People from Riverdale, Bronx People from Stonington, Connecticut American business executives American corporate directors People from Manhattan Businesspeople from New York City People from Lenox, Massachusetts Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery