Pierre Jay (May 4, 1870 – November 24, 1949) was the first chairman of the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

Early life

Jay was born on May 4, 1870, in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, E ...

. He was the son of Rev. Peter Augustus Jay (1841–1875), a protestant Episcopal clergyman, and Julia (

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 ...

Post) Jay. Jay grew up in

Rye, New York Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. It received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the most recent such charter in the state. Its area of ...

, at the Jay Estate ancestral home of his great-great grandfather, American Founding Father,

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

. Among his siblings was Mary Rutherfurd Jay, one of America's earliest

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

s."Mary Rutherfurd Jay – Garden Architect" Exhibit Catalog, Jay Heritage Center, 2015 His maternal grandparents were Dr. Alfred Charles Post and Harriet (née Beers) Post and his paternal grandparents were John Clarkson Jay and Laura (née Prime) Jay (herself the daughter of prominent banker Nathaniel Prime of Prime, Ward & King). Jay attended the

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

, graduating in 1888 before attending

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he graduated in 1892, and 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 society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

, one of the best known of the

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

based at Yale University. He received an honorary A.M. from Yale in 1917.

Career

After Yale, he was associated with Post and Flagg, bankers in New York and served as vice president of the Old Colony Trust Company in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, from 1903 to 1906. From 1906 to 1909, he was Bank Commissioner of the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

where, in 1908, he, along with

ian business man and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Edward Filene Edward Albert Filene (September 3, 1860 – September 26, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for building the Filene's department store chain and for his decisive role in pioneering credit unions across the U ...

, helped organize public hearings on creating

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

legislation in Massachusetts, leading to the passage of the Massachusetts Credit Union Act in 1909. This legislation was the first to enable the formation of credit unions in the United States. Jay also became the first-ever chairman of the New York Federal Reserve in 1913 after its formation until January 1, 1927, when he was sent to Berlin to be the American member of the transfer committee under the

Dawes Plan The Dawes Plan temporarily resolved the issue of the reparations that Germany owed to the Allies of World War I. Enacted in 1924, it ended the crisis in European diplomacy that occurred after French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr in re ...

. Jay was also one of the founders of Fiduciary Trust Company International, now a subsidiary of

Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. is an American multinational investment management holding company that, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton; it is a global investment firm founded in New York City in 1947 as Franklin ...

, serving as board chairman from 1930 to 1945, and honorary chairman in 1945.

Personal life

In 1897, Jay was married to Louisa Shaw Barlow (d. 1965), the daughter of Maj. Gen. Francis Channing Barlow and Ellen (née Shaw) Barlow, sister of Col.

Robert Gould Shaw Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into an Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist family from the Boston Brahmin, Boston upper class, he ...

. Her father served as New York Secretary of State and the

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Ellen Jay (1898–1995), who married Lloyd K. Garrison. * Anna Maricka "Nancy" Jay (1900–1982), who married Alexander Duer Harvey, the great-grandson of

John Van Buren John Van Buren (February 18, 1810 – October 13, 1866) was an American lawyer, official and politician. In addition to serving as a key advisor to his father, President Martin Van Buren, he was also Attorney General of New York from 1845 to 1 ...

, second son of President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

. * Frances Jay (1904–1979), who did not marry. * Luiza Jay (1909–1980), who married Imre de Vegh, son of Charles de Vegh a member of the Upper Chamber of the Hungarian Parliament. She later married Lawrence W. Fox. Jay died at his home, 133 East 64th Street in New York City on November 24, 1949.

References

External links

* Pierre Jay papers (MS 660). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

* *
Jay Heritage Center - Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Pierre 1870 births 1949 deaths Yale University alumni People from Rye, New York Jay family People from the Upper East Side People from Warwick, New York Groton School alumni American bankers Businesspeople from New York City American corporate directors Members of Skull and Bones