James Alexander Stillman (August 18, 1873 – January 13, 1944) was a president of National City Bank.

Biography

James Alexander Stillman was born on August 18, 1873, 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 ...

to James Jewett Stillman (1850–1918) and Sarah Elizabeth Rumrill. His paternal grandfather was

Charles Stillman Charles Stillman (November 4, 1810 – December 18, 1875) was the founder of Brownsville, Texas, and was part owner of a successful river boat company on the Rio Grande. Early life He was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, United States, ...

(1810–1875), the founder of

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

. He graduated

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1896.

Career

In 1918, his father who was chairman of

National City Bank of New York Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

died and the younger Stillman engaged in a fight with Frank A. Vanderlip to control the company. Eventually in 1919, Vanderlip quit and Stillman became chairman. His father's estate was estimated at $45,000,000. While he was chairman, he urged temperate speech and urged people not to do or say anything that causes excitement while discussing general conditions of the country. He served as chairman for three years until personal issues relating to a divorce with his wife caused him to resign. In 1921, Stillman sold 5,000 city lots in

that were part of his grandfather's estate, with estimates putting their value upwards of $1,500,000.

Personal life

In 1901, he married Anne "Fifi" Urquhart Potter at Grace Church in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. She was the daughter of James Brown Potter. Together they had: *Anne Stillman (1902–1987), who married Henry P. Davison Jr. (1898–1961), son of Henry Pomeroy Davison. *James "Bud" Alexander Stillman Jr. (1904–1998), a doctor with the U.S. Army Medical Corps *Alexander Stillman (1911–1984), a Lieutenant with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and former assistant cashier of National City Bank * Guy Stillman (1918–1985), also Lieutenant with the

In 1921, he filed for divorce accusing his wife of infidelity and saying that her youngest child was the son of a half-blood Indian guide from Quebec, who was the superintendent of the Stillman's property in Grande-Anse. His wife denied the charges and accused him of fathering a child with

chorus girl A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of a chorus line was vogue during the first half of th ...

Florence H. Leeds. Stillman later acknowledged his son with Leeds in 1926 by agreeing to give $20,000 a year in trust to their son Jay Ward Leeds until he was 21. At that point, he was to receive $150,000. After five years, the court refused the divorce saying that he had misbehaved. His wife then filed for divorce but withdrew the contest after receiving a $500,000 necklace. They sailed to Europe to receive counseling from

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

. He eventually acknowledged he was the father of Guy and the court case ended up costing him more than $1 million but they reconciled in 1926. Fifi eventually divorced Stillman in 1931 and married Fowler McCormick, a man twenty years younger than she and a friend of their son, Bud. He died on January 13, 1944, a few days before he planned to visit his winter home in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. His estate was split between his four children with a bequest going to his friend, Bernard E. Smith, the executor of his estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, James A. 1873 births 1944 deaths Harvard University alumni Citigroup people