James T. Woodward

Infobox Person
name = James Thomas Woodward


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = September 27, 1837cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Belair From the Beginning
publisher = City of Bowie Museums
date = 2005
location = Bowie, Maryland
pages = pp 111-118
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]
birth_place = Anne Arundel County, Maryland
death_date = April 10, 1910
death_place = New York, New York
death_cause = "paralysis of the brain"
resting_place = Woodlawn, Cemetery, Bronx, New York
resting_place_coordinates =
residence = New York, New York
Collington, Maryland
Rhode Island
nationality = United States
title = Esq.
known_for = President of Hanover National Bank
Owner of Belair Mansion and Belair Stud
employer = Hanover National Bank
occupation = Banker
boards = Hanover National Bank
St. John's College
religion =
spouse = none
children = none
parents = Henry Williams Woodward
Mary Edge Webb

James T. Woodward (September 27, 1837 – April 10, 1910) was an American banker and owner of a major thoroughbred horse dynasty.

Background

James T. Woodward was the second child born to Henry Williams Woodward and Mary Edge Webb at Edgewood Plantation in Gambrills Station, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.cite book
last =Hammond
first =John Martin
title =Colonial Mansions of Maryland and Delaware
publisher =J.B. Lippincott Company
date =1914
location =Philadelphia & London
pages =Pages 199-204
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=I00AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA201-IA3&dq=%22James+T.+Woodward%22+%22Anne+Arundel%22&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1
doi =
id =
isbn =1406759473 ] cite book
last =Warfield
first =Joshua Dorsey
title =The Founders of Anne Arundel And Howard Counties, Maryland
publisher =Kohn & Pollock
date =July 1905
location =Baltimore, Maryland
pages =pages 123-125
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=vgINAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA208&dq=Samuel+Ogle#PPA123,M1
isbn = 0806379715]

While his family gathered tremendous wealth during the American Civil War by selling textiles to the Confederates,cite book
last =Bowen
first =Edward L.
title =Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders
publisher =Eclipse Press
date =2003
location =
pages =pages 73-76
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=k5tf46yLaxkC&pg=PA73&dq=William+Woodward,+Sr.&ei=mBxPR4-NHYbosQPvws35AQ&sig=DVnTOjQ9ObyD88HT4hqVxtly6-M#PPA74,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = 1581501021] James spent the war years in school.Citation
title =James T. Woodward, The Banker, Is Dead
pages =1
year =1910
date =April 11, 1910
url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C04E1D81139E333A25752C1A9629C946196D6CF]

Woodward moved to New York after the war and took a job at Ross, Campbell & Company where his business acumen was recognized. He became a director in the Hanover National Bank in the early 1870s. In 1877, his brother William Woodward (who founded the New York Cotton Exchange) and he pooled their funds and bought a large portion of the bank. James was elected president of the bank the same year. Under his leadership the deposits of the bank grew from $6,000,000 to $100,000,000.

Pursuits

Woodward was a bachelor his entire life, but was active socially. He joined many elite clubs including the Union Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Knickerbocker Club and the Maryland Club of Baltimore.

An avid hunter and horseman, Woodward purchased the historic Belair Mansion and Stud farm in 1898,Baltz, 1984, p. 70-74]

James maintained residences in New York, Rhode Island as well as at Belair. During this time, he developed a very close relationship with Saint John's College in Annapolis, Maryland and was elected to its board of visitors. Woodward invested significantly in both repairing Belair and expanding St. John's during this time. In June 1909, St John's gave the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws to Woodward in recognition ofhis extensive contribution to the school.

Legacy

Woodward died in 1910 having never married. His nephew, wealthy lawyer and banker, William Woodward, Sr. was his sole heir and inherited the estate in 1910.cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
title = A Chronicle of Belair
publisher =Bowie Heritage Committee
date = 1984
location =Bowie, Maryland
pages = pages 74-76
LCCN = 85165028] The inheritance tax of $3,200 was the largest ever paid in Prince Georges County at that time.

Woodward Hall houses the library at St. John's College, named in his honor.

References