James Hood Wright
Birth dateNovember 4, 1836
Birth placePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death dateNovember 12, 1894 (aged 58)
Death placeNew York City, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York City
EmployerDrexel, Morgan & Company
ParentsWilliam Wright
Sarah Hood Wright
SpouseMary Robinson (m. March 1, 1881)

James Hood Wright (known professionally as J. Hood Wright; November 4, 1836 – November 12, 1894) was an American banker, financier, corporate director, business magnate, and reorganizer of US railroads. He began as a bookkeeper but his management talents led him to becoming a partner in J. P. Morgan's banking firms. He sat on the board of directors for, and reorganized, several railroads. He facilitated investment in Thomas Edison's electrical enterprises and technology. Wright became wealthy in his business operations and was known as a philanthropist in New York City. At the time of his death, interest in his finances set off national media reporting on the size and disposition of his estate.

Early life

Wright was born to William and Sarah Wright () Hood in Philadelphia, United States, on November 2, 1836.[1] As a teenager, he became a dry-goods clerk, a position he held for several years.[2][3]

Career

Drexel, Morgan and Company

In his early twenties, Wright became a clerk at the Philadelphia banking firm, Drexel and Company, where a talent for bookkeeping led to rapid promotions. He was named a partner around 1864.[4] He excelled in detecting counterfeit money and was given the responsibility to review and identify ersatz currency.[5] Wright moved to New York City to work for Drexel, Morgan and Company, the successor firm of Drexel and Company.[6] Pierpont became fed up with the youngest Drexel brother, Joseph, and was heartened when the Drexels suggested Wright as a potential partner, whom he found "...competent, quick, accurate and a ‘capital negotiator.’" Fearful that losing Joseph would alienate the Drexel family, Pierpont was relieved when Joseph retired that year, allowing him to begin his long association with Wright.[7]

Wright was a partner in the banking firm;[8] he became involved in the management of, as well as invested in, many of the corporations for whom Drexel Morgan provided banking services.[4]

Director

Wright was a director of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company.[9][10][11]

According to the New York Times, Wright enjoyed a reputation as "one of the most widely known bankers and railroad reorganizers" in the United States.[12] He was a director for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad; the Southern Railway; the Long Island Rail Road; and the New York Guaranty and Indemnity Company.[1][4][5] Wright was mostly responsible for the reorganization of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Just prior to his death, he was focused on the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company and all the subsidiary railroads the Richmond Railway controlled. He also served as president of the Suburban Rapid Transit Road, overseeing its conversion to an elevated railroad system.[12] He served as a director of the West Shore Railroad[13] and director of the Chicago-based Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co.[13]

Personal life and death

Wright married Mary P. Robinson at Philadelphia's Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church on March 1, 1881. She was the widow of John M. Robinson, his partner at Drexel, Morgan & Co. The newly wedded couple honeymooned in Washington D.C. in a specially-provided private railroad car.[14]

Wright was president of the Manhattan Hospital.[5] He held memberships in the Metropolitan Club, the City Club, the Riding Club, the New York Yacht Club and the Metropolitan Museum of New York.[6] He was associated with the Republican Party and was a Presbyterian.[1]

In January 1894, he was diagnosed with cardiac disease and partially retired from his work at Drexel Morgan.[2] That summer he spent time cruising on the yacht Yampa with his wife and stepdaughter.[15] Feeling recovered, he returned to the bank in October, but died at an elevated train station in New York City on November 12, 1894, at age 58.[4][5] His funeral, at his former residence on 174th St. in Washington Hts. was attended by many financial giants of the day, including J. Pierpont Morgan (who acted as pallbearer), George Foster Peabody and William Rockefeller Jr.[16] He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.[17]

Estate

Upon Wright's death, US newspapers published stories describing his legacy.[17][18][19][20] In 1895 his nephews contested his will. At that time the NY Surrogate Court estimated Wright's fortune was $5 million () in liquid assets and $300,000 () in property.[21] In March 1895, probate court agreed and set the final determination of the estate at $5 million in liquid assets and $300,000 in property, the majority of which went to his wife, sister and stepchildren.[22][23][24]

Legacy

Wright donated land for the J. Hood Wright Park in New York City, next to his house at the corner of 175th and Haven.[25] He contributed generously to the Washington Heights Branch of New York's library system. An entrance plaque still honors his financial assistance in changing the library from fee-based to a free library.[25][26] After his death, the Knickerbocker Hospital contested a grant to the library in Wright's will, saying the branch, absorbed by the New York Public Library, was not entitled to a bequest. The New York State Court of Appeals decided in 1916 that $100,000 () was granted to the Washington Heights branch library as this fulfilled the terms of Wright's disposition of his will as a legacy.[27]

Wright funded the creation of the Knickerbocker Hospital (later the J. Hood Wright Memorial Hospital) in New York's Manhattanville district.[25][1][28] He designated that interest from a trust was to be used only for operating capital. In 1943, a judge allowed amounts to be taken from the fund principal to save the hospital from closing due to economic problems caused by World War II.[29][30]

References

  1. ^ The National Cyclopaedia 1947, p. 443.
  2. ^ "Death of J. Hood Wright". Delaware Gazette and State Journal. November 15, 1894. p. 1. – via Newspapers.com
  3. ^ Rhodes Journal 1894, p. 1302.
  4. ^ Hall 1895, p. 746.
  5. ^ Railway World 1894, p. 909.
  6. ^ "J. Hood Wright Dead". The Sun. 13 Nov 1894. p. 1. – via Newspapers.com
  7. ^ Strouse 2014, p. 159.
  8. ^ Rottenberg 2006, pp. 133.
  9. ^ "Necrology - 1894". American Electrician. 6-7: 10. 1895. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "Annual Stockholders Meeting". Bulletin. 1-22: 41. 1882. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. ^ Josephson 2019, p. 99.
  12. ^ "Sudden death of J. Hood Wright". New York Times. 13 November 1894.
  13. ^ Poor, Henry (1891). Poor's Manual of Railroads. Vol 24 ed. New York NY: Henry V. Poor and Co. pp. 202, 359.
  14. ^ "Flowers at a Wedding". The Kansas Sentinel, page 3. March 16, 1881. – via Newspapers.com
  15. ^ "Niece of H.C. Robinson Engaged". The Evening Journal, page 3. July 9, 1894. – via Newspapers.com
  16. ^ "Hundreds of friends of the banker pay him last honor". New York Times. 16 November 1894.
  17. ^ "J. H. Wright's Will". The Evening World. 20 November 1894. p. 1. – via Newspapers.com
  18. ^ "Will of James Hood Wright". New York Times. 21 November 1894. p. 12. – via Newspapers.com
  19. ^ "Southwest Sentinel / Tuesday, December 4, 1894". Southwest Sentinel. 4 December 1894. p. 3. – via Newspapers.com
  20. ^ "Will of James Hood Wright". Quad-City Times. 22 November 1894. p. 4. – via Newspapers.com
  21. ^ "A Reproduction of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce in the New York Courts". The Leavenworth Standard. 29 January 1895. p. 1. – via Newspapers.com
  22. ^ "Contested Will". Nashville Banner. 29 January 1895. p. 1. – via Newspapers.com
  23. ^ "Contesting Their Uncle's Will". The San Francisco Call. 30 January 1895. p. 2. – via Newspapers.com
  24. ^ "Their Uncle's Will / Nephews of the Late James Hood Wright Want a Share of the Title". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 29 January 1895. p. 4. – via Newspapers.com
  25. ^ "J. Hood Wright Park". Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  26. ^ "Millionaire Wright's Last Will". The Kansas City Star. November 21, 1894. p. 6.
  27. ^ "Library wins Wright appeal". The Sun. May 20, 1916.
  28. ^ "Public Library Gets Legacy of $100,000". The New York Times. August 9, 1915.
  29. ^ "Trust Cash freed to save hospital". Daily News. April 21, 1943. p. 50.
  30. ^ "An Interesting Decision". The Evening Times. April 24, 1943. p. 4.

Sources

Further reading

  • Klein, Maury (2008). The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-412-4.