Watson Bradley Dickerman (January 4, 1846 – April 5, 1923) was an American banker who founded
Dominick & Dickerman and served as
president of the New York Stock Exchange
This is a list of presidents of the New York Stock Exchange.
References
{{reflist, 30em
External linksPresidents and Chairmen of the New York Stock Exchange(PDF)
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Bi ...
.
Early life
Dickerman was born on January 4, 1846, in
Mount Carmel, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census.
History
The peaceful tribe of Quinnipiacs were the first residents of the ...
.
He was the ninth and youngest child of son of Ezra Dickerman (1800–1860) and Sarah (
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 ...
Jones) Dickerman (1806–1890).
Among his siblings were brothers George Sherwood, Henry Street and Ezra Day Dickerman.
He was educated at
Williston Seminary
Williston Northampton School (simply referred to as Williston) is a private, co-educational, day and boarding college-preparatory school in Easthampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1841.
History
Williston Seminary was ...
, a prep school established in 1841 in
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is on the southeastern edge of the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 c ...
.
Career
Dickerman began his finance and banking career as a young employee and trainee of
Jacob Bunn
:''This article concerns John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the entrepreneurs who were interconnected with the Bunn brothers through association or familial and genealogical connection.''
John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920)Ill ...
in the J. Bunn Bank of
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, before coming to New York City in 1868 and joining the
Open Board of Brokers
The Open Board of Stock Brokers was an early regional stock exchange in the United States. It was established in 1864, "to profit from the economic and investment boom sparked by the Civil War."
The old Open Board of Stock Brokers was located at ...
, which was consolidated with the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
in 1869.
On June 15, 1870, he formed the stock brokerage firm of
Dominick & Dickerman with Chicago-born William Gayer Dominick. Dominick had purchased membership on the New York Stock Exchange in 1869 where he met Dickerman. Dominick's brothers, George and Bayard Dominick, also joined the Exchange and became partners in the firm. In 1889, the firm opened its first branch in Cincinnati where it was one of only two exchange members.
From 1889 to 1891, Dickerson was Receiver of the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
, until its reorganization in 1891 when he began serving as its president from 1891 to 1899. He also served as a director of the Long Island Loan & Trust Company.
In 1890, Dickerman left his firm when he was elected to succeed
William L. Bull as president of the New York Stock Exchange. He served as president of the Exchange from 1890 to 1892, after which
Frank K. Sturgis
Frank Knight Sturgis (September 13, 1847 – June 15, 1932) was an American banker who served as president of the New York Stock Exchange and became a prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age.
Early life
Sturgis was born in New ...
became president and he was again elected a Governor of the Exchange. In 1892, Dickerman returned to the firm and three years later, his co-founder William Dominick died of
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
in 1895. In 1899, William C. Sheldon & Co. and Dickerman's firm provided financing for an iron and steel corporate combine called Republic Iron & Steel Company, which absorbed the Springfield Iron Company run by
John Whitfield Bunn
:''This article concerns John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the entrepreneurs who were interconnected with the Bunn brothers through association or familial and genealogical connection.''
John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920)Ill ...
, brother of Dickerman's Springfield mentor. Both brothers had been personal friends of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
.
[Henry Hall (ed.), ]
America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography, Vol. 1
' P. 192 (New York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...
: 1895-1896). Dickerman retired from active business life in 1909.
He also served as president 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, ...
, where he served on the board of managers for fifteen years and was a member of the Executive Committee. He was also a member of the
Metropolitan Club
The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...
, the
Union Club, the
Century Association
The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...
, and the
Brook
A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to:
Computing
*Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C
*Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler
*BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...
and Riding Clubs.
Personal life
On February 18, 1869, Dickerman was married to Martha Elizabeth Swift (1847–1908), a daughter of Samuel Swift and Mary (née Phelps) Swift of Brooklyn.
Together, they were the parents of:
* Watson Bradley Dickerman (1871–1873), who died young.
After the death of his first wife, he remarried to Florence Elaine Calkin at the
Grace Church Grace Church may refer to:
Canada
* Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto
China
* Grace Church, Guanghan
Poland
* Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland
United Kingdom
United States
* Grace Cathedral (disam ...
chantry on April 12, 1917.
Florence was a daughter of Freeman Brant Calkin of
Yonkers
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
, and according to their ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wedding announcement, "Dickerman is many years the senior of his wife."
Together, Watson and Florence were the parents of:
* Watson Bradley Dickerman Jr. (1918–1955), a Harvard graduate who became an assistant vice president at
J.P. Morgan & Co. before his death at age 37 in 1955.
He married Mary McBurney Philbin, a granddaughter of the New York County District Attorney
Eugene A. Philbin
Eugene Ambrose Philbin (July 24, 1857 – March 14, 1920) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was New York County District Attorney from 1900 to 1901.
Early life
Eugene A. Philbin was born in New York City on July 24, 1857, t ...
.
Her sister was the first wife of journalist and political activist
Blair Clark.
After his retirement in 1909, he devoted his time to breeding "
trotting horse
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...
s and
Guernsey cattle
The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is fawn or red and white in colour, and is hardy and docile. Its milk is rich in flavour, high in fat and protein, and has a golden-yellow tinge due ...
"
at
Hillandale Farm,
his country place on Weaver Street, Quaker Ridge in
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...
.
He first bought the property in 1884 and over the years, added to it until it reached nearly 500 acres in
Mamaroneck
Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States.
The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...
and
New Rochelle
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
.
Dickerman died at
998 Fifth Avenue
998 Fifth Avenue is a luxury cooperative located on Fifth Avenue at the North East corner of East 81st Street in Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City.
Design
998 Fifth Avenue is a , 12-story building designed by the architectural firm o ...
, his home on Manhattan's
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
(an Italian Renaissance Palazzo-style luxury cooperative building designed by
McKim, Mead & White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...
and built by
James T. Lee
James Thomas Aloysius Lee (October 2, 1877 – January 3, 1968) was an American lawyer, banker, and real estate investor who was the maternal grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill.
Early life
Lee was born in Manhattan on O ...
),
on April 5, 1923.
His funeral was held at Grace Episcopal Church in New York. After leaving $20,000 each to the New York Zoological Society and the
Home for Incurables, the remainder of his roughly $5,000,000 estate was left to his widow and surviving son.
The inheritance tax was $274,153, "the largest inheritance tax levied upon a
Westchester
Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City.
__NOTOC__
It may also refer to: Geography Canada
*Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada
United States
*Town of Westchester, the original seat ...
estate in many months."
Two codicils revoked bequests made totaling more than $500,000 to relatives and charity.
His son died in 1955 and his widow died in 1963.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerman, Watson B.
1846 births
1923 deaths
People from Hamden, Connecticut
Businesspeople from New York City
Williston Northampton School alumni
People from Manhattan
Presidents of the New York Stock Exchange
American bankers
People from the Upper East Side