Gurdon Saltonstall Mumford (January 29, 1764 – April 30, 1831) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Early life

Mumford was born in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

on January 29, 1764, and named in honor of his maternal grandfather. He was the second son of David Mumford Sr., a descendant of Thomas Mumford (one of the earliest settlers in Rhode Island), and Rebecca Winthrop Mumford (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Saltonstall), a granddaughter of

Gurdon Saltonstall Gurdon Saltonstall (27 March 1666 – 20 September 1724) was governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1708 to 1724. He was born into a distinguished family and became an eminent Connecticut pastor and a close associate of Governor Fitz-John ...

, the 25th Governor of Connecticut Colony. He attended the common schools.

Career

Through the influence of his uncle, U.S. Envoy to France

Silas Deane Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became t ...

(the husband of his mother's younger sister, Elizabeth Saltonstall), he was a private secretary to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

during the latter part of his official residence in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1785, he returned to America with Franklin and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he became associated with his brothers in the commission business in 1791. In 1805, he was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the Ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative-elect

Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fourth Governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth Vice President of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkin ...

. Among his colleagues in Congress from New York were George Clinton Jr., Henry W. Livingston,

Uri Tracy Uri Tracy (February 8, 1764 – July 21, 1838) was a United States representative from NYCongDel, New York. Biography He was born in Norwich, Connecticut on February 8, 1764, to Daniel Tracy and Mary Johnson, he graduated from Yale College in 178 ...

Philip Van Cortlandt Philip Van Cortlandt (September 1, 1749 – November 5, 1831) was an American surveyor, landowner, and politician from Westchester County, New York. Van Cortlandt was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt and brother of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. He ...

, and

Killian K. Van Rensselaer Killian Killian Van Rensselaer (June 9, 1763 – June 18, 1845) was an American lawyer and United States Federalist Party, Federalist politician who served in the United States Congress as a United States House of Representatives, Represen ...

. He was reelected to the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1805 to March 3, 1811. While in the House, he was chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures during the Ninth Congress. Mumford was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege ...

and voted for

Dewitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

and

Jared Ingersoll Jared Ingersoll Jr. (October 24, 1749 – October 31, 1822) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Constitution. He ...

Later career

After retiring from active political life, he was elected director of the

Bank of New York The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

in 1812, and opened a

broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...

's office in

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

in 1813. Mumford was one of the original founders of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. From 1818 to 1824, he served as the second

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) Lists of people by employer, New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchang ...

, succeeding Anthony Stockholm. Mumford was also a member of the Société Française de Bienfaisance de New-York (also known as the French Benevolent Society of New York), which was established to help needy French and Swiss immigrants in 1806. In addition to its philanthropy, it was also a social club for its members.

Personal life

On November 2, 1793, Mumford was married to Anna Van Zandt in the Reformed Dutch Church. Together, they were the parents of: * Benjamin Franklin Mumford (1796–1817) * Tobias Van Zandt Mumford (1796–1875), who married Mary Oliver Manwaring of Philadelphia. After her death, he married Catherine Brooks of New York. After the death of his first wife, he remarried to Letitia Van Toren in 1810. Together, they lived at 23

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and were the parents of: * Gurdon Saltonstall Mumford Jr. (1811–1870), who married Catherine A. Snow (b. 1819) in 1866. * George Clinton Mumford (b. 1812), who died in infancy. * Anne Letitia Mumford (b. 1812), who married John Osgood. * Emma Letitia Mumford (1814–1879), who died unmarried. * George Washington Mumford (b. 1814), who died in infancy. * George Lafayette Mumford, who died in infancy. * Mary Margarita Mumford (1826–1888), who married Aaron Price Ransom (1825–1893) in 1846. * Cornelia Matilda Mumford, who married George Warren Geer. He died from a lingering illness in New York City on Saturday, April 30, 1831 and was interred in the Old Collegiate Dutch Church Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mumford, Gurdon 1764 births 1831 deaths Politicians from New London, Connecticut Benjamin Franklin Presidents of the New York Stock Exchange 1812 United States presidential electors BNY Mellon Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from colonial Connecticut Saltonstall family 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives