New York financier . J. Borden Harriman was born on September 20, 1864. His father, Oliver Harriman, was a partner of a dry goods commission house, which evolved into Low, Harriman & Co. (and then Harriman & Co.), an investment banking firm located on Worth Street, and later 111 Broadway, in Manhattan. Laura was the daughter of James Low, Oliver's business partner. He had seven siblings. In addition to brothers James, Oliver Jr., Joseph, and Herbert, J. Borden had three oft-married sisters—Emeline Harriman Dodge Olin, Anna Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt, and Lillie Harriman Travers Havemeyer. In 1901, his mother died. Later that year, he and his siblings successfully petitioned a New York court to declare their 70-year-old father incapable to manage his affairs due to senile dementia. At the time, his father's wealth was estimated at over $5 million. His father died the following year. Harriman graduated from Princeton University in 1885. Harriman joined his father's business, becoming an investment banker. In 1903, he bid for a seat on the New York Stock Exchange's governing committee, but was thwarted by an outside candidate, even though Harriman had received the committee's nomination, and all other regular nominees prevailed. He and several brothers and cousins were founding directors or officers in the Day and Night Bank, established in 1906 as the world's first 24-hour bank. Once open, the owners added further innovations—a separate branch reserved for women customers, and an automobile "safe on wheels" that would pick up cash and valuables from depositors’ homes. In 1910, after four years of 24-hour operations, it began to restrict its weekday hours, closing from midnight to 8 am. Harriman left the bank's board of directors in January 1911, when the Day and Night Bank developed an intimate relationship with Merchants' National Bank of New York but changed its name to the Harriman National Bank (reflecting the continued influence of other members of the Harriman family in the bank's ownership and management). Twenty-two years later, after the bank failed in the financial crisis of 1932–1933, its longtime president Joseph Wright Harriman, formerly of Harriman & Co., was convicted by a federal jury of misappropriating bank funds, and served 25 months in prison. On November 13, 1889, he married nineteen-year-old Florence Jaffray Hurst, daughter of shipping executive (and former Civil War Union blockade runner) F.W.J. Hurst. The list of attendees at their wedding included past and future president Grover Cleveland, railroad tycoons Cornelius Vanderbilt and Edward Harriman, John Jacob Astor IV, and J. P. Morgan. Together they had one child, Ethel M. Borden Harriman (1897–1953),. Harriman became seriously ill in January 1913 with what newspapers described as a lingering “digestive troubles.” His health continued to deteriorate, and he died in Washington on December 1, 1914. His prolonged illness, the resulting lack of income, and the expense of maintaining several homes had reportedly consumed nearly all of his net worth. (Bio by Wikipedia)
New York financier . J. Borden Harriman was born on September 20, 1864. His father, Oliver Harriman, was a partner of a dry goods commission house, which evolved into Low, Harriman & Co. (and then Harriman & Co.), an investment banking firm located on Worth Street, and later 111 Broadway, in Manhattan. Laura was the daughter of James Low, Oliver's business partner. He had seven siblings. In addition to brothers James, Oliver Jr., Joseph, and Herbert, J. Borden had three oft-married sisters—Emeline Harriman Dodge Olin, Anna Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt, and Lillie Harriman Travers Havemeyer. In 1901, his mother died. Later that year, he and his siblings successfully petitioned a New York court to declare their 70-year-old father incapable to manage his affairs due to senile dementia. At the time, his father's wealth was estimated at over $5 million. His father died the following year. Harriman graduated from Princeton University in 1885. Harriman joined his father's business, becoming an investment banker. In 1903, he bid for a seat on the New York Stock Exchange's governing committee, but was thwarted by an outside candidate, even though Harriman had received the committee's nomination, and all other regular nominees prevailed. He and several brothers and cousins were founding directors or officers in the Day and Night Bank, established in 1906 as the world's first 24-hour bank. Once open, the owners added further innovations—a separate branch reserved for women customers, and an automobile "safe on wheels" that would pick up cash and valuables from depositors’ homes. In 1910, after four years of 24-hour operations, it began to restrict its weekday hours, closing from midnight to 8 am. Harriman left the bank's board of directors in January 1911, when the Day and Night Bank developed an intimate relationship with Merchants' National Bank of New York but changed its name to the Harriman National Bank (reflecting the continued influence of other members of the Harriman family in the bank's ownership and management). Twenty-two years later, after the bank failed in the financial crisis of 1932–1933, its longtime president Joseph Wright Harriman, formerly of Harriman & Co., was convicted by a federal jury of misappropriating bank funds, and served 25 months in prison. On November 13, 1889, he married nineteen-year-old Florence Jaffray Hurst, daughter of shipping executive (and former Civil War Union blockade runner) F.W.J. Hurst. The list of attendees at their wedding included past and future president Grover Cleveland, railroad tycoons Cornelius Vanderbilt and Edward Harriman, John Jacob Astor IV, and J. P. Morgan. Together they had one child, Ethel M. Borden Harriman (1897–1953),. Harriman became seriously ill in January 1913 with what newspapers described as a lingering “digestive troubles.” His health continued to deteriorate, and he died in Washington on December 1, 1914. His prolonged illness, the resulting lack of income, and the expense of maintaining several homes had reportedly consumed nearly all of his net worth. (Bio by Wikipedia)
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