Charles J Stewart (June 3, 1898 – July 14, 1987) was a banking executive and the first chairman of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company.

Charles Jacob Stewart
c. 1918
Personal details
Born(1898-06-03)June 3, 1898
Dallas, Texas, US
DiedJuly 14, 1987(1987-07-14) (aged 89)
Naples, Florida, US
Resting placeGrove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas
Spouses
  • Maude Emily Tenison Stewart
    (died 1966)
  • Clothilde Stewart
Children2
Parent(s)Robert Henry Stewart (1854-1936), Ada Rauch Stewart (1860-1952)
Alma materYale University
OccupationBank executive
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
RankSecond Lieutenant
Battles/warsWorld War I

Early life

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Born in 1898, Stewart was raised in Dallas, Texas on Swiss Avenue and graduated from the Terrill School for Boys in 1914.[1] At the age of 16 he went to Yale University, where he was a running back on the varsity football team for three years. He captained the Yale's 1917 football team and graduated in 1918. While at Yale, Charles was tapped by Henry Fenimore Cooper (1895-1984) for Skull and Bones secret society.[2][3] Other members in the society at this time included Prescott Bush and Charles Phelps Taft II.[4] Upon graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a second lieutenant in World War I.[5]

Stewart is the grandson of Dr. Charles B Stewart (1806-1885) a political leader in the State of Texas who is purported to have designed the Texas state flag and seal.

Career

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New York Trust Company

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Stewart returned to Dallas after the war and began a real estate career. He joined the commercial banking department of the New York Trust Company in 1930 and worked his way up the ladder. By 1949, he was president of the company.[5]

In 1952, Stewart led the proposed merger of New York Trust Company with Manufacturers Trust Company. That merger was stymied by his own stockholders, and Stewart resigned to become a general partner at Lazard Frères, an investment bank.[5]

Lazard Frères & Co

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Stuart was a general partner at Lazard Frères investment bank from 1953 to 1959.[5][6]

Manufacturers Trust Company

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In October 1961, Manufacturers Trust Company merged with Hanover Bank, and Stewart became the first chairman of Manufacturers Hanover Trust at the age of 61.[7] The merger became the nation's fourth largest commercial bank. Elected chair, he served in that capacity until his retirement in 1963.[5][8]

In 1991, several years after Charles' passing, Manufacturers Hanover Trust would merge with Chemical Banking Corporation. Ultimately absorbing into J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The offices of Manufacturer Hanover Trust at 270 Park Avenue are still the offices of J.P. Morgan Chase to this day.

Personal life

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Stewart married Maud Emily Stewart (née Tenison) of Dallas, Texas (1900-1966). Maud Emily was a graduate of The Hockaday School in the first graduating class of 1916 and later became the first president of the Hockaday Alumnae Association.[9] She was an Idlewild Debutante in 1916,[10] and attended Finch College. Together they had one son Charles "Charlie" Jacob Stewart Jr. (1926-1981) and one daughter Emily Tenison Stewart Goyer (1923-1989).[11][12]

 
Stewart Memorial circa 2023

In 1940, accordingly to census records, Stewart lived at 25 Ridgecroft Road, Bronxville, New York. The records list his wife (39), daughter (16), son (13) and butler Anastasio Esealdeia (34). At this time Stewart is listed as vice president at a Commercial Bank.[13]

In 1948 Stewart published an engagement announcement in The Bronxville Review-Press for his daughter's engagement. At the time the Stewart lived at 10 Beechwood Road, Bronxville, New York.[14]

Stewart's daughter, Emily Tenison Stewart Goyer, is a graduate of The Masters School, Vassar College, and received her master's degree from the Institute of Fine Art, New York University, in 1948. She married Charles Wesley Goyer[15] and had a son and a daughter.

After Maud Emily's passing, Stewart met and married Clothilde de Veze. At the age of 89, he died of cardiac failure at his home in Naples, Florida.[5] Three years after Stewart's passing, Clothide married Marvin Bower. [16]

He is buried in the Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.

References

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  1. ^ Yale Alumni Weekly. Vol. 26. Yale University. September 22, 1916.
  2. ^ "Membership of Yale's Skull and Bones Society". Biblioteca Pleyades by Eric Samueson, J.D.
  3. ^ List of Skull and Bones Members
  4. ^ "The Yale Daily News 20 April 1917 — Yale Daily News Historical Archive". ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Charles Stewart Dies; An Ex-Bank Executive". The New York Times. July 17, 1987.
  6. ^ "PERSONNEL: Changes of the Week, Oct. 5, 1959". TIME. TIME. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "PERSONNEL: Changes of the Week, Oct. 5, 1959". TIME. TIME. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  8. ^ (18 January 1961). Stewart due to be Chairman is an untypical Texan, The New York Times
  9. ^ "The Hockaday Timeline". The Hockaday School.
  10. ^ Lindley, Melinda A. (1977-12-01). "A History of Debutante Presentation in Dallas, 1884-1977". UNT Digital Library. p. 91. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  11. ^ "CHARLES STEWART, FORMER COMMERCIAL BANK CHIEF - Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. 18 July 1987.
  12. ^ "Bronxville Review Press and Reporter 3 February 1966 — HRVH Historical Newspapers". news.hrvh.org. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  13. ^ SIXTEENTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES: 1940. 41. April 9, 1940. pp. 2B. Retrieved April 7, 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ "Miss Emily Stewart to Wed C. Goyer, Jr". The Bronxville Review-Press. October 14, 1948. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  15. ^ "Miss Emily Stewart to Wed C. Goyer, Jr". The Bronxville Review-Press. October 14, 1948. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  16. ^ Martin, Douglas (January 24, 2023). "Marvin Bower, 99; Built McKinsey & Co". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2023.