Clinton Ledyard Blair (July 16, 1867 – February 7, 1949) was an American

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

and

yachtsman A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Early years

Blair was born in

Belvidere, New Jersey Belvidere is a town in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,681,DeWitt Clinton Blair DeWitt Clinton Blair (September 6, 1833 – June 3, 1915) was an American philanthropist and industrialist. Early life Blair was born in Gravel Hill, New Jersey (later renamed Blairstown) on September 6, 1833. He was the son of entrepreneur and ...

, a philanthropist and industrialist, and Mary Anna (

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 ...

Kimball) Blair. His paternal grandfather was

John Insley Blair John Insley Blair (August 22, 1802 – December 2, 1899) was an American entrepreneur, railroad magnate, philanthropist and one of the 19th century's wealthiest men. Early life John Insley Blair was born at Foul Rift in White Township, New Jerse ...

, one of the wealthiest men of the 19th century. He attended the

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Scho ...

and then

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, graduating in 1890 with a

Bachelor of Arts 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 yea ...

degree.

Career

While still a senior at Princeton, Blair joined his father and grandfather in founding the banking firm of Blair & Company, primarily to manage railroad interests linked to the

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, ...

family. The firm underwrote a $50 million bond issue of the

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dir ...

and helped in the financial management of the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from ...

and the

Western Maryland Railroad The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM becam ...

. After Blair & Company merged with the firm of William Salomon & Co. in April 1920 (under the name of Blair & Co., Inc.), Ledyard Blair was named chairman of the board of directors. He was also the director of several railway companies, including the

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile se ...

, the

Sussex Railroad The Sussex Railroad (later known as the Sussex Branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad) was a short-line railroad in northwestern New Jersey. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the S ...

, and the

Green Bay and Western Railroad The Green Bay and Western Railroad served central Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993. For much of its history the railroad was also known as the Green Bay Route. At the end of 1970 it opera ...

. Blair & Co. was active in assisting with the mergers of oil companies. In 1924-1925, the firm arranged a deal in which

Standard Oil of Indiana Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, an ...

obtained control of the

Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company The Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company (PAT) was an oil company founded in 1916 by the American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny after he had made a huge oil strike in Mexico. Pan American profited from fuel demand during World War I, and fr ...

and Lago Petroleum Company in Venezuela.

Society life

An avid yachtsman, Blair was named Commodore of the

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

in 1910. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he turned over his 254-foot steel yacht, ''Diana'', to the U.S. government and gave up yachting. At the outbreak of the war in 1914, Blair was on the ''

SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie SS ''Kronprinzessin Cecilie'' may refer to one of these ships: * SS ''Kronprinzessin Cecilie'' (1893), , ex ''Prinz Waldemar'' (1893), twin screw, steel steamer built Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated ...

'', a

North German Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of t ...

ocean liner, sailing from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Nearing Plymouth, news of hostilities forced the ship to turn back. Blair took the helm and safely piloted the ship to

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the wes ...

, where his family had a summer home. The ship was carrying $10 million in gold and $3.5 million in silver. Blairsden, Ledyard Blair's opulent 38-room mansion in

Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey Peapack-Gladstone (also written as Peapack and Gladstone) is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough's population was 2,582,C. Ledyard Blair House. In addition to Blairsden, he had residences in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...

, "Honeysuckle Lodge," and

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

, "Deepdene."

Personal life

On October 1, 1891, he married Florence Osborne Jennings (1869–1931) and they had four daughters: * Marjory Bruce Blair (1892–1975), who married

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

(1891–1957) in 1913. * Florence Ledyard Blair (1893–1982), who married Herbert Rivington Pyne (1892–1952), son of

Percy Rivington Pyne II 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, the son of Percy Rivington Pyne I (1820-1895) and Albertina Shelto ...

, in 1917. * Edith Dodd Blair (1896–1988), who married Richard Gambrill (1890–1952) in 1917. * Marie Louise Blair (1899–1994), who married Maj. Gen.

Pierpont Morgan Hamilton Pierpont Morgan Hamilton (August 3, 1898 – March 4, 1982) was a general officer in the United States Air Force, and the scion of two illustrious families in American history, the Hamilton family, which traces its lineage to founding father ...

(1898–1982) in 1919."Miss Blair, Bride of P.M. Hamilton"
''

The 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 ...

'', September 12, 1919. Accessed March 12, 2008. She later married Washington Everardus Bogardus (1896–1931) and James Bethune Campbell (1909–1983). Blair's first wife Florence died on November 15, 1931. In 1936, he married Harriet Stewart Brown (1884–1953), the widow of Thomas Suffern Tailer (who died in 1928), and daughter of Baltimore banker Alexander Brown. The Browns were members of the family which founded investment bank Alex. Brown & Sons. Blair died on February 7, 1949, in

Manhattan 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 ...

and was buried in Saint Bernards Cemetery, beside his first wife Florence.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, DeWitt Clinton 1867 births 1949 deaths People from Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey People from Belvidere, New Jersey Lawrenceville School alumni Princeton University alumni Members of the New York Yacht Club