Franklin MacVeagh (November 22, 1837July 6, 1934) was an American politician, lawyer, grocer and banker. He served as the

United States 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 ...

under President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

Biography

MacVeagh was born on November 22, 1837, in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...

, to Major John MacVeagh and the former Margaret Lincoln. His brother, Isaac Wayne MacVeagh, became the U.S. Attorney General under Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. MacVeagh graduated from

Yale University 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 w ...

in 1862, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. He graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1864. He worked as a wholesale grocer and lawyer. MacVeagh was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. He married Emily Eames in 1868; they had five children. Franklin MacVeagh medal

He had been director of the Commercial National Bank of Chicago for 29 years when

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and fellow Bonesman

tapped him to be Secretary of the Treasury in 1909. He did not tackle the pressing problem of currency reform, leaving it to the

National Monetary Commission The National Monetary Commission was a U.S. congressional commission created by the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907, the Commission studied the Banking in the United States, banking laws of the United States, and the leadi ...

, which had been established by the Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908; he did, however, stress the urgency of reform in his annual report. He is remembered for increasing the efficiency and general progressiveness of the Treasury Department: He abolished 450 unnecessary positions, rehabilitated the

U.S. Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...

with the introduction of electric automatic weighing devices and accepted

certified check A certified check (or certified cheque) is a form of check for which the bank verifies that sufficient funds exist in the account to cover the check, and so certifies, at the time the check is written. Those funds are then set aside in the bank's ...

s instead of currency for customs and internal revenue payments. He was also involved in the creation of the buffalo nickel. MacVeagh was the eighth president in 1885 of the Commercial Club of Chicago. His Washington D.C., home at 2829 16th St., NW, was designed and built between 1910-1911 by noted architect

Nathan C. Wyeth Nathan Corwith Wyeth (April 20, 1870 – August 30, 1963) was an American architect. He is best known for designing the West Wing of the White House, creating the first Oval Office. He designed a large number of structures in Washington, D.C., ...

. It is now home to th
Mexican Cultural Institute of the Embassy of Mexico
He also owned a large summer estate in

Dublin, New Hampshire Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,532 at the 2020 census. It is home to Dublin School and ''Yankee'' magazine. History In 1749, the Masonian proprietors granted the town as "Monadnock No. 3 ...

(now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

) known as Knollwood. Franklin MacVeagh died in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, on July 6, 1934, at age 96, and was interred in

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Ir ...

in Chicago.

References

External links

Franklin MacVeagh biography for Department of the Treasury

Rice on History profiles for Nomination by Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh
1837 births 1934 deaths 20th-century American politicians People from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Columbia Law School alumni Yale University alumni Illinois Republicans United States Secretaries of the Treasury Taft administration cabinet members Washington, D.C., Republicans {{Illinois-politician-stub