J. P. Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan I (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and banker, who at the turn of the century (1901), was one of the wealthiest men in America.

Life

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890); and Juliet Pierpont (1816–1884) of Boston, Massachusetts. Junius was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house of J. S. Morgan & Co. in London. John Morgan was educated at the English High School of Boston and at the University of Göttingen. He was a prominent member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

From 1857 to 1861 Morgan worked in the New York City banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Company. In 1861 he married Amelia Sturges (1835–1862). She was the daughter of Jonathan Sturges and Mary Pemberton Cady. After her death he married Frances Louise Tracy (1842–1924) on May 3, 18 and they had the following children:

Louisa Pierpont Morgan (1866–1946) who married Herbert Penny Satterlee (1863–1947),
Jack Pierpont Morgan (1867–1943),
Juliet Morgan (1870–1952), and
Anne Morgan (1873–1952). lol

Death and aftermath

J. P. Morgan died in 1913 while visiting Rome, Italy. His remains were returned to the United States for interment in the Cedar Hill Cemetery[1] in his birthplace of Hartford, Connecticut. His son Jack, known as J. P. Morgan, Jr., inherited the banking business.

As required by the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, the "House of Morgan" became three entities: 1) J.P. Morgan and Co. and its bank, Morgan Guaranty Trust; 2) Morgan Stanley, an investment house; and 3) Morgan Grenfell in London, England, an overseas securities house.

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Legacy

Morgan was a notable collector of books, pictures, and, other art objects, many loaned or given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (of which he was president), and many housed in his London house and in his private library on 36th Street, near Madison Avenue in New York City. His son, J. P. Morgan, Jr., created the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1924 as a memorial to his father and kept Belle da Costa Greene, his father's private librarian, as its first director..

Morgan was also a benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Groton School, Harvard University (especially its medical school), the Lying-in Hospital of the City of New York and the New York trade schools. In his satirical history of the United States, It All Started with Columbus, Richard Armour commented that "Morgan, who was a direct sort of person, made his money in money... He became immensely wealthy because of his financial interests, most of which were around eight or ten percent... This Morgan is usually spoken of as 'J.P.' to distinguish him from Henry Morgan, the pirate."

It has been noted in congressional record of 1917, that J.P. Morgan interests took control of the United States media industry: "In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press....They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers... An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers." - U.S. Congressman Oscar Callaway, 1917

Notable patronage

In 1900, Morgan financed inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla and his Wardenclyffe Tower. Morgan invested over $75,000 into the project. However, in 1903, when the tower structure was near completion, it was still not yet functional due to an alleged design error. When Morgan asked, "Where can I put the meter?," Tesla had no answer. Tesla's vision of free power did not agree with Morgan's worldview. Construction costs eventually exceeded the money provided by Morgan, and additional financiers were reluctant to come forth (since Tesla fell out of favor with Morgan). By July 1904, Morgan (and the other investors) finally decided they would not provide any additional financing. Morgan also encouraged other investors to avoid the project. The tower was finally dismantled for scrap during wartime. Newspapers of the time labeled Wardenclyffe "Tesla's million-dollar folly", as Morgan's huge PR campaign, created only to discredit Tesla.

Morgan was also a patron to photographer Edward S. Curtis, offering Curtis $75,000 in 1906, for a series on the Native Americans. Curtis eventually published a 20-volume work entited "The North American Indian." [2]. In 1977 his great grandson started a fire and made their house burn down, leading to 30 years in jail.

Trivia

Morgan was an enthusiastic yachtsman. His Columbia defeated the Shamrock in 1899 and 1901 for the America's Cup.
Rosacea plagued Morgan, causing his nose to appear purple; a popular rhyme ran: "Johnny Morgan's nasal organ has a purple hue..."
Morgan is a relative of "Jingle Bells" writer James Pierpont.
Morgan was supposed to be on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Because of business on the continent, he had to remain in Europe for a while longer. These unexpected plans happened so close to the Titanic's departure that his luggage had already been loaded on board and, thus, went down with the ship.
Morgan employed a full-time astrologer at his bank J P Morgan. He said famously, "to become a millionnaire is mostly chance. To become a billionnaire, you need a good astrologer."

References

Sources

J.P. Morgan : The Financier as Collector Publisher: By Louis Auchincloss, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (1990) ISBN 0-8109-3610-0
Brandeis, Louis D. Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It. Ed. Melvin I. Urofsky. New York: Bedford Books, 1995. ISBN 0-312-10314-X
J. P. Morgan: Banker to a Growing Nation (American Business Leaders) By Bryman Jeremy Publisher: Morgan Reynolds Publishing (June 1, 2001) ISBN 1-883846-60-9
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, By Chernow, Ron Publisher: Publishers Group West 1st edition (October 15, 2001) ISBN 0-8021-3829-2
J.P. Morgan by Jackson, Stanley Publisher: Stein & Day Pub (November 1, 1983) ISBN 0-8128-2824-0
J. P. Morgan Saves the Nation (Sun and Moon Classics) By Jones T., Jeffrey Larson, Johnathan
A People's History of The United States By Howard Zinn

Personalities of Wall Street

See List of personalities associated with Wall Street.