Louis McLane (expressman)

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Louis McLane Jr.
President of Nevada Bank
In office
1875–1881
Preceded byInaugural holder
Succeeded byJames Cair Flood
President of Wells Fargo & Company Express
In office
1866–1869
Preceded byDanford N. Barney
Succeeded byAshbel H. Barney
Personal details
Born(1819-01-20)January 20, 1819
Wilmington, Delaware
DiedDecember 13, 1905(1905-12-13) (aged 86)
Baltimore, Maryland
Spouse(s)
Sophie Latimer Hoffman
​
​
(m. 1849; his death 1905)​
RelationsRobert Milligan McLane (brother)
Kitty Garesche (niece)
Robert McLane (nephew)
Allan McLane (grandfather)
Children8
Parent(s)Catherine Milligan McLane
Louis McLane

Louis McLane Jr. (January 20, 1819 – December 13, 1905) was an American financier from a prominent Maryland family who became a prosperous California Forty-niner.

Early life[]

McLane was born on January 20, 1819 in Wilmington, Delaware.[1] He was one of thirteen children born to Catherine Mary "Kitty" (née Milligan) McLane and Louis McLane, who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State in President Jackson's cabinet (until his resignation in 1834), and Minister to the United Kingdom.[2] He later served as president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Among his siblings were Robert Milligan McLane (a U.S. Representative and Governor of Maryland who served as Ambassador to Mexico, France, and China), Lydia (née McLane) Johnston (wife of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston), Allan McLane (president of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company), James Latimer McLane (president of the National Bank of Baltimore and father of Baltimore mayor Robert McLane), and Juliette (née McLane) Garesché (wife of Peter Bauduy Garesché).[1]

His paternal grandfather was Col. Allan McLane of the Continental Army.[1]

Career[]

Currier and Ives engraving of the USS Ohio, where McLean served aboard from 1838 to 1840

In 1835, at just sixteen years old, he left his classes at Newark College when he was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the USS Ohio from 1838 to 1840. McLean submitted his resignation of his commission as a Lieutenant on January 20, 1850 to the Secretary of the Navy. Secretary William Ballard Preston accepted his resignation on January 21, 1850.[1]

Business career[]

Shortly after his marriage and resignation from the Navy, McLane left for San Francisco and a career as a financier which was to take him away from his family many times during the next thirty years. He was a founder of the Safe Deposit & Trust Co. in 1864 and, during the 1850s, was Wells Fargo's first general manager in San Francisco.[3][4] On November 1, 1866, he succeeded Danford N. Barney to become president of the Wells Fargo & Company Express, which he reorganized after its takeover of Holladay Overland.[5] He was replaced by Ashbel H. Barney in 1869. McLane also served as the first president of Nevada Bank in 1875, which had been started by William S. O'Brien and James Clair Flood, who succeeded McLane as president in 1881. He returned to Balitmore in 1892.[6]

In his later years, he served as chairman of the executive committee of the Mercantile Trust Company of Baltimore and a director of many financial institutions.[7]

Personal life[]

On June 12, 1849 McLane was married to Sophie Latimer Hoffman (1827–1907), daughter of Samuel Hoffman, a well known Baltimore merchant, and the former Elizabeth Rebecca Becker Curzon.[8] Together, they were the parents of eight children, including:[8]

  • Katherine Milligan McLane (1850–1927), who did not marry and lived with her sisters Sophie and Elizabeth.[8][9]
  • Sophie Hoffman McLane (b. 1852), who died unmarried.[8]
  • Elizabeth Curzon McLane (b. 1856), who died unmarried.[8]
  • Louis McLane III (b. 1857), who moved to California around 1880 and also worked for the Wells Fargo Co.;[1] he married Lizzie Evaline Blanchard of New York in 1887.[10]
  • Samuel Hoffman McLane (1861–1890), who went to school in Croydon, England.[1]
  • Emily McLane (b. 1864), who married E. Gittings Merryman of Cockeysville.[8]
  • Sally Jones Milligan McLane (1867–1963), who married lawyer David Kirkpatrick Este Fisher (his sister Louise married U.S. Senator William Cabell Bruce).[8][11]
  • Charles Eugene McLane (1871–1941),[6] who served as assistant secretary and treasurer of the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company;[1] he also served as president of the Maryland Jockey Club.[12]

McLane suffered a stroke of paralysis in October 1901 but survived. After several years of ill health, he died on December 13, 1905 at 1101 North Charles Street, his residence in Baltimore, Maryland.[7][13] He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "McLane-Fisher Family Papers circa 1800-1905, MS. 2403". www.hitandstay.com. Maryland Historical Society. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Death of Hon. Louis McLane". The New York Times. 9 October 1857. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  3. ^ Rasmussen, Fred (January 18, 1996). "Sophie Baylor, 97, helped schools, needy". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Wells Fargo & Co Incorporation". Scott's Monthly Stamp Journal. Scott Publishing Company. Mar-Feb 1924-25: 273. 1924. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  5. ^ "This Day In History: 2020-07-15". www.wellsfargohistory.com. Wells Fargo History. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b "CHARLES E. M'LANE, TURFMAN, BROKER; President of Maryland Jockey Club, 1917-38, Succeeded by A. C. Vanderbilt, Dies at 70 OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILY His Grandfather in Jackson's Cabinet, Envoy to London-- Uncle a Maryland Governor". The New York Times. 2 June 1941. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b Times, Special to The New York (14 December 1905). "Louis McLane". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Pleasants, Jacob Hall (1919). The Curzon Family of New York and Baltimore, and Their English Descent. p. 49. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. ^ "CATHERINE M. McLANE.; Member of Prominent Baltimore Family Dies at 77". The New York Times. 13 April 1927. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  10. ^ "McLANE--BLANCHARD". Napa Valley Register. 12 August 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  11. ^ Bachrach, Bradford (22 August 1956). "BETSY M'L. FISHER BECOMES FIANCEE; Cockeysville, Md., Girl Future Bride of Thomas Cover 4th, Who Attended Yale". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  12. ^ "C. A. BROCKLEBANK, EX-RECTOR, 43, DIES; Served 4 Years at St. Mark'sin-the-Bouwerie--Formerly at Baltimore Churches". The New York Times. 2 November 1948. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  13. ^ "LOUIS McLANE BREATHES HIS LAST IN BALTIMORE". San Francisco Call. 99 (14). 14 December 1905. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

External links[]

Business positions
Preceded by
Inaugural holder
 President of Nevada Bank
1875–1881 		Succeeded by
James Cair Flood
Preceded by President of Wells Fargo & Company Express
1866–1869 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""