A. Barton Hepburn
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Comptroller of the Currency from 1892 to 1893.
Barton Hepburn served as Comptroller for less than a year. He came to office from a varied and distinguished career. A descendant of a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
emigrant to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the colonial era of the eighteenth century, he was a Professor of Mathematics at St. Lawrence Academy, before practicing law in his hometown. He was also the superintendent of banking of the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and five-term member of the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
. He later was appointed as superintendent of the New York State Banking Department
New York State Banking Department
The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent...
by Governor Alonzo B. Cornell
Alonzo B. Cornell
Alonzo Barton Cornell was a New York politician and businessman who served as 27th Governor of New York from 1880 to 1882.-Early years:...
. He then served as National Bank Examiner for the cities of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
before his appointment as Comptroller of the Currency by President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
. An internationally recognized authority on financial and economic questions, Hepburn returned to banking when President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
took office. He later succeeded Henry W. Cannon as president of the Chase National Bank.
After leaving the office of Comptroller he worked in the field of banking, becoming the president of the Third National Bank of New York then the Vice-President of the National City Bank in 1897 when the Third National Bank merged with other banks to form that company. He then became the President of the Chase National Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
.
Hepburn graduated from Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
in 1871 and later served as a trustee. In 1906 he was given an honorary degree by St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University is a four-year liberal arts college located in the village of Canton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students, about equally split between male and female....
.
Somewhat of a philanthropist, Hepburn donated funds to allow for the construction of a library for each school he served as a District Superintendent.
A prolific writer on the economy and financial matters, he wrote the books "History of Coinage and Currency in the United States: Perennial Contest for Sound Money" (1903), "A History of Currency in the United States" (1915), and "Artificial Waterways and Commercial Development". He also regularly contributed to magazines and periodicals.