Lewis Cass Ledyard

Lewis Cass Ledyard (April 4, 1851 – January 27, 1932) was a New York City lawyer. He was a partner at the firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn, personal counsel to J.P. Morgan, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.

Lewis Cass Ledyard
Ledyard, 1914
BornApril 4, 1851
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedJanuary 27, 1932 (1932-01-28) (aged 80)
New York City, U.S.
EducationCharlier Institute
Alma materColumbia College
Harvard College
Harvard Law School
Spouse(s)
Gertrude Prince
​
​
(m. 1878; died 1905)​

Frances Isabel Morris
​
​
(m. 1906; his death 1932)​
ChildrenLewis Cass Ledyard, Jr.
Parent(s)Henry Ledyard
Matilda Frances Cass
RelativesLewis Cass (grandfather)

Early life

Lewis Cass Ledyard was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1851, to an established American family. He was the fourth of five children born to Henry Brockholst Ledyard (1812–1880) and Matilda Frances Cass (1808–1898). His father was a lawyer, diplomat, and mayor of Detroit.[1] Ledyard had three sisters and a brother, Henry Brockholst Ledyard, who became president of the Michigan Central Railroad and was a well-known philanthropist.

His paternal grandparents were Benjamin Ledyard (1779–1812), a prominent New York attorney, and Susan French (née Livingston) (1789–1864). His grandmother was the daughter of Revolutionary War Colonel and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757–1823) and granddaughter of the first governor of New Jersey William Livingston.[2]

His maternal grandfather, General Lewis Cass (1782–1866), had been governor of the Michigan Territory and a United States senator from the state of Michigan, and served as secretary of state under President James Buchanan. His maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (née Spencer) Cass, was the granddaughter of Major-General Joseph Spencer, who served in the American Revolution under George Washington. His aunt, Isabella Cass, married Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg, Baron van Limburg (1806–1887), the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1] His niece, Matilda Cass Ledyard (1871–1960), married Baron Clemens von Ketteler (1853–1900), a German diplomat.[3][4]

Education

Ledyard prepared for college at Charlier Institute, a French school in New York City.[5] He matriculated at Columbia College in 1868, but transferred after his freshman year to Harvard, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1872. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated with Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees in 1875. He then moved to New York City, where he was admitted to the bar in 1875, becoming a sixth generation lawyer in his family.[6]

Career
John George Milburn and Lewis Cass Ledyard in 1915-1916

In 1875, Ledyard was introduced to the lawyer James Coolidge Carter, and joined his firm, then known as Scudder & Carter, the same year. He was admitted to partnership in 1880. In 1904, the lawyer John G. Milburn of Buffalo joined, creating the modern firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn.[7]

Ledyard, who had a personal interest in sailing, began his practice in admiralty law, but soon expanded into general practice. Following the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, Ledyard became a prominent adviser to the steel, petroleum, and tobacco industries. In 1911, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that the American Tobacco Company was in violation of the Sherman Act, Ledyard oversaw the company's corporate restructuring.[8] Ledyard also served as counsel to the United States Steel Corporation and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as personal counsel to John Pierpont Morgan.[9]

In 1903, Ledyard also oversaw the passage of a bill in the New York State Legislature requiring the electrification of the rail lines at Grand Central Station following a deadly train collision in 1902. The bill and subsequent improvements resulted in the covering of the railroad tracks outside the station, the extension of Park Avenue, and the expansion of valuable real estate in the surrounding area.[10]

Civic involvement

In addition to his professional career, Ledyard was a prominent figure in New York society and civic life. Along with John Lambert Cadwalader, he was a founder of the New York Public Library and served as its president from Decmember 12, 1917 until January 12, 1932. He served as a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pierpont Morgan Library, and was a founding trustee of the Frick Collection.[9]

He served on a number of corporate boards including First National Bank of New York, United States Trust Company of New York, Great Northern Paper Company, American Express Company, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, National Park Bank, and several railroads.

From 1901 to 1902, Ledyard also served as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club.[7] In 1914, he became a member of the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati by right of his descent from Captain Jonathan Cass who served during the American Revolution.

Personal life

On April 11, 1878, Ledyard married to Gertrude Prince (1851–1905), the daughter of Col. William E. Prince.[9] They had one child, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Jr. (1879–1936), who married Ruth Langdon Emery (1881–1966).[11][12]

After his first wife's death in 1905, he sold their home at 2 East 87th Street and took an apartment in the Tiffany Apartment at 27 East 72nd Street. On June 6, 1906,[9] he married Frances Isabel Morris, the divorced wife of Thurlow Weed Barnes, brother of photographer Catharine Weed Barnes and grandson of publisher Thurlow Weed.[7] She was a daughter of John Albert Morris, a prominent figure in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, and a sister of Alfred Hennen Morris and Dave Hennen Morris,[7] and had two daughters, Jean Morris Barnes (1893-1963),[13] who married Mansfield Ferry (1882–1938),[14] and Muriel Hennen Morris, who first married Barrington Moore Sr. (1883-1966), in 1910,[15][16] and later, Richard L. Stokes (1883-1957),[17][18] in 1929.[19]

Lewis Cass Ledyard died at his home in New York City on January 27, 1932.[5] He was buried at the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. His services were conducted by Rev. Dr. George A. Buttrick and the Rev. Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin.[17] His estate was valued in excess of $10,000,000 upon his death.[20]

Descendants

Through his son, he was the grandfather of Lewis Cass Ledyard III (1911–1990),[21] Dorothy Cass Ledyard, who first married Hugh McLeod Fenwick (1905–1991) (he divorced her in 1931 to marry Millicent Vernon Hammond),[22] and later, Richard Allen Knight (d. 1947),[23][24] in 1933,[25] and Ruth Emery Ledyard, who married William de Rham, a great-great grandson of Stephen Whitney, in 1928,[26] and later, William Vernon Chickering Ruxton (1891–1958),[11] in 1932.[27] Her second marriage also ended in divorce in 1943, after the couple had been living at Wraxall Manor in Dorset, England.[28]

References
Notes
  1. Klunder, Willard Carl (1996). Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation. Kent State University Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780873385367. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  2. Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1910). The Livingstons of Livingston Manor: Being the History of that Branch of the Scottish House of Callendar which Settled in the English Province of New York During the Reign of Charles the Second; and Also Including an Account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The Nephew," a Settler in the Same Province and His Principal Descendants. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  3. Michigan, University of. The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year ... Financial Statement for the Fiscal Year. UM Libraries. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  4. Bragg, Amy Elliott (October 20, 2011). Hidden History of Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781614233459. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  5. "L. CASS LEDYARD, DIED LAWYER, DIES; Friend and Associate of the Elder J. P. Morgan Victim of Heart Disease at 80. FORMED BIG CORPORATIONS Director on Many Boards Gave Large Sum to Charity Former Commodore of N. Y. Yacht Club". The New York Times. January 28, 1932. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  6. Sheldon, Edward. "Memorial of Lewis Cass Ledyard." The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. 1932. p. 363
  7. "LEWIS CASS LEDYARD MARRIES MRS. MORRIS; Their Engagement, Made Three Weeks Ago, Not Announced. FEW AT THE QUIET WEDDING The Bride Was the Wife of Thurlow Weed Barnes -- Dave Hennen Morris a Brother". The New York Times. 7 June 1906. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  8. United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (1911)
  9. Psi Upsilon (1932). The Diamond of Psi Upsilon. Psi Upsilon Fraternity. pp. 170–171. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  10. Edward Sheldon. "Memorial of Lewis Cass Ledyard." The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. 1932. p. 368.
  11. "L.C. LEDYARD JR., 56, ATTORNEY, IS DEAD; Member of the Law Firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn -- Hospital Governor. CITY LIBRARY TREASURER Also Trustee of Pierpont Morgan Library and Payne Whitney Philanthropic Fund". The New York Times. 2 May 1936. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  12. "$4,000,000 WILLED BY L.C. LEDYARD JR.; Widow Receives Bulk of Estate -- Bequests Are Made to Two Hospitals and a Nursery". The New York Times. 9 May 1936. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  13. "MRS. MANSFIELD FERRY". The New York Times. 11 November 1963. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  14. "MANSFIELD FERRY, LAWYER 30 YEARS; Member of New York Law Firm Is Stricken at 56". The New York Times. 5 September 1938. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  15. "MISS MURIEL MORRIS A BRIDE.; Wedded to Barrington Moore of the United States Forestry Service". The New York Times. 21 December 1910. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  16. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. J. T. White & Co. 1922. p. 18. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  17. "L. CASS LEDYARD BURIED.; Body Rests in Family Plot in Island Cemetery, Newport". The New York Times. 1 February 1932. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  18. "RICHARD STOKES, NEWSMAN, CRITIC; Ex-Chief of Post-Dispatch Bureau in Capital Dies-- 'Merry Mount' Librettist". The New York Times. 2 August 1957. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  19. "MRS. MURIEL MOORE; Mrs. Lewis Cass Ledyard's Daughter Bride of Music Critic in Municipal Chapel". The New York Times. 19 May 1929. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  20. "L.C. LEDYARD WILLED $2,000,000 TO LIBRARY; Besides Gift to Public Institution, Lawyer Left $250,000 to Pierpont Morgan Library. ESTATE PUT AT $10,000,000 Son Chief Beneficiary, Receiving Residuary After Payment of $5,127,000 Bequests. $500,000 TRUST FOR WIDOW She Also Gets Newport Property, and $1,000,000 Outright -- Generous Legacies to Employes". The New York Times. 4 February 1932. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  21. "Lewis Cass Ledyard 3d; Horse Breeder, 79". The New York Times. 4 December 1990. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  22. "MISS LEDYARD WED TO HUGH M. FENWICK; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Ledyard Jr. Married in St. John's Church, Cold Spring Harbor RECEPTION AT WESTWOOD Miss Sophie Connett Marries Tom L. Johnson in Grace Church Chantry--Other Nuptials". The New York Times. 14 October 1928. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  23. New York Court of Appeals (1942). Court of Appeals: State of New York. p. 139. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  24. Pomeroy, Edwin Moore (1958). History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family and Collateral Lines, England, Ireland, America; Comprising the Ancestors and Descendants of George Pomeroy of Pennsylvania. W. McL. and J.N. Pomeroy. p. 1147. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  25. "MRS. FENWICK PLANS TO BE MARRIED NOV. 2; Granddaughter of Late Counsel to J. Pierpont Morgan Will Be Wed to R. A. Knight". The New York Times. 27 October 1933. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  26. "RUTH LEDYARD WEDS WILLIAM DE RHAM; Society Throng in Grace Church at Ceremony Performed by Rev. Dr. W.G. Thayer. FATHER ESCORTS THE BRIDE Marriage Unites Descendants of Old New York Families--Wedding Trip in Europe. Eight Bridesmaids. Among the Guests. Levy--Lewis". The New York Times. 9 November 1928. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  27. "MRS. DE RHAM WED TO W. V. C. RUXTON; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Ledyard Married at Parents' Home by Rev. C. A. Buttrick. A SURPRISE TO FRIENDS Couple's Betrothal Was Not Formally Announced Second Marriage for Each". The New York Times. 8 March 1932. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  28. "DIVORCES W.V.C. RUXTON; Wife Gets Custody of Twins in Florida Court Action". The New York Times. 16 June 1943. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Sources
  • Sheldon, Edward. "Memorial of Lewis Cass Ledyard." The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. 1932.
  • Martin, George. Causes and Conflicts: The Centennial History of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1997.
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