Frederic P. Olcott

Frederic Pepoon Olcott (1841 Albany, Albany County, New York - April 1909 Bernardsville, Somerset County, New Jersey) was an American banker and politician.

Life

He was the eleventh and last child of Thomas Worth Olcott, President of the Mechanics and Farmers Bank and the Mechanics and Farmers Savings Bank of Albany, New York. He was educated at The Albany Academy, and then worked at his father's bank. In 1866, he removed to New York City and became a stock broker in Wall Street. He married Mary Esmay, and their son was Dudley Olcott, 2nd.

On January 1, 1877, he was appointed New York State Comptroller to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term of Lucius Robinson who had been elected Governor. In November 1877, he was re-elected on the Democratic, German-American Independent Party and Breadwinners' Party tickets, and staid in office until the end of 1879.

From 1884 to 1905, he was President of the Central Trust Company of New York, which after mergers and acquisitions found its way into the JPMorgan Chase company. In this capacity he was envolved in the re-organization of many railroads in financial trouble, like the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad, the Third Avenue Railroad, and the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad. He also was a director of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

In 1896, because of his opposition to William Jennings Bryan whom he accused of trying to destroy the American economy, he became a Republican and was a delegate from New Jersey to the 1900 Republican National Convention.

After suffering from heart trouble and chronic Bright's disease, he died at his farm in Bernardsville, N.J., and was buried in Albany, N.Y.

ources

* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9801E5D81131E733A25755C1A9629C946897D6CF] Obit in NYT on April 16, 1909
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/olcott.html The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Olcott ] at politicalgraveyard.com Political Graveyard (double entry)
* [http://www.smokershistory.com/Central.htm The Central Trust ] at www.smokershistory.com The Central Trust, Banking history
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E6D8103FE63BBC4151DFB667838C669FDE] Tickets for state election, in NYT on October 29, 1877
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9801E7DF163FE433A25755C1A9609C946197D6CF] His opinion of Bryan, in NYT on June 16, 1900