Edgar L. Marston

Edgar Lewis Marston (March 8, 1860 – September 23, 1935) was an American banker, industrialist and philanthropist.

Edgar L. Marston
Born	Edgar Lewis Marston (1860-03-08)March 8, 1860 Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Died	September 23, 1935(1935-09-23) (aged 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	LeGrange College Washington University in St. Louis
Spouses	Jennifer Colorado Hunter ​ ​ (m. 1884; died 1923)​ Anne Mae Treadway Ellis ​ ​ (m. 1925)​
Children	3
Signature

Early life and education

 

A mid-1870s sketch of Marston's alma mater, LeGrange College

Marston was born on March 8, 1860, in Burlington in Des Moines County, Iowa.^[1] He was a son of Susan Hodson (née Carpenter) Marston and the Rev. Sylvester W. Marston, a prominent Baptist clergyman and educator who moved the family from Iowa to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1868 where he was secretary of the Baptist Home Missionary Society. Both of his parents were born in Newfield, Maine.^[2]

He graduated from LeGrange College in 1878, followed by Washington University School of Law in 1881.^[3]

Career

After graduation from Law School, Marston practiced law in St. Louis for several years before moving to Texas where he was connected with the building of the oil industry in the United States. He joined his father-in-law's firm, Hunter, Evans & Co. In 1888, he helped organize the Texas Pacific Coal Company,^[4] which became the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company, and established his fortune.^[a] In Texas, he was credited with the founding several important oil developments, including the Ranger field (which became one of the leading oil producing fields in Texas) and the McClesky well which began flowing in October 1917.^[1] He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Clinchfield Coal Company and was a director of the Davis Coal and Coke Company.^[4]

In 1890, Marston joined DeWitt Clinton Blair and his family's New York bank and prominent stock brokerage house Blair & Co., as head of the bond department, before becoming a partner in 1893. The firm's primary business was managing the railroad interests linked to the Gould family and it underwrote a $50 million bond issue of the Western Pacific Railroad and helped in the financial management of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Maryland Railroad.^[5] In 1901, Marston was arraigned for illegal registration due to his relocation from the Bronx to Port Chester.^[6] In April 1920, Blair & Co. dissolved after merging with William Salomon & Co. (under the name of Blair & Co., Inc.). C. Ledyard Blair was named chairman of the board of directors,^[7] and Blair, Dennis, and Marston owned 48%, 30% and 22%, respectively, of the predecessor firm.^[8] In 1923, Marston retired from the firm, which merged with Bank of America in 1929, forming Bancamerica-Blair Corporation (later owned by Transamerica Corporation).

In 1919, he was one of two representatives of investment bankers at the National Industrial Conference Board, which met in Washington, D.C.^[1] He also served as a director of the Astor Trust Company and the Bankers Trust.

Personal life

 

Marston's son, Maj. Hunter S. Marston, c. 1915–1920

On June 4, 1884, Marston was married to Jennifer Colorado "Jennie" Hunter (1865–1923).^[9] Jennie was the daughter of Col. Robert Dickie Hunter.^[2] They had a home in Port Chester, New York, known as Glen Airlie.^[10][11] Together, they were the parents of:^[1]

• Hunter Sylvester Marston (1885–1979), who served as president of the Bancamerica-Blair Corporation and was a founder of the American Home Products Corporation and the Dixie Cup Company, which was acquired by the American Can Company.^[12] He married Mary Ann Vandehoef (1886–1978), the cousin of Frances Vanderhoef Heckscher (mother of August Heckscher II), in 1909.^[13][14]
• Edgar Jean Marston (1888–1962), who served as president of the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company. He married Margaret Buckelew Helme (1891–1965) on November 15, 1911, and moved to La Jolla in 1955.^[15]
• Jennie Frances "Jane" Marston (1899–1982), who married Robert J. Adams (son of the chewing gum manufacturer) in 1917.^[16] They divorced in 1919 and she married John Clark Burgard in 1922. She later married singer and actor Lawrence Tibbett in 1932.^[17][18] After his death in 1960, she married photographer John Bingham in 1961.^[19][20]

After his first wife's death in Rye, New York, on December 8, 1923,^[9] he married Anne Mae (née Treadway) Ellis (1886–1953), the former wife of James Herbert Ellis, on November 10, 1925.^[1]

Marston died at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on September 23, 1935.^[1] He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Philanthropy

In 1919, Marston donated $150,000 to Brown University for a modern language building, which was named Marston Hall in his honor. Marston's son Hunter was a graduate of Brown and the elder Marston served as a trustee of the University and endowed several scholarships. He also served as a trustee of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.^[21] In 1966, with funds donated by Hunter, the University purchased a boathouse for the Brown University Rowing Team which it dedicated on October 7, 1967, as the "Hunter S. Marston Boathouse."^[22]

References

Notes

1. The Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company was later bought by Samuel Bronfman in 1963 for $50 million. His heirs eventually sold it to the Sun Oil Co. in 1980 for $2.3 billion.

Sources

1. "Edward Marston, Banker, Dies at 75; Former President of Blair & Co., Brokers, Is Stricken Suddenly in Los Angeles" (PDF). The New York Times. September 24, 1935. p. 26. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
2. Woodard, Don (1998). Black Diamonds! Black Gold!: The Saga of Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company. Texas Tech University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780896723795. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
3. "Edgar Lewis Marston Dies at Los Angeles: Retired Banker and Lawyer, of St. Louis and New York, Succumbs at Age of 75". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 24, 1935. p. 19. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
4. Hull, Arthur M.; Hale, Sydney A. (1918). Coal Men of America: A Biographical and Historical Review of the World's Greatest Industry. Retail Coalman. p. 263. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
5. "C. Ledyard Blair; Co-Founder of Blair & Co. Here Was Yachtsman and Former- Stock Exchange Governor" (PDF). The New York Times. February 8, 1949. p. 25. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
6. "Wall Street Banker Arrested: Edgar L. Marston Contests Charge of Illegal Registration" (PDF). The New York Times. November 1, 1901. p. 16. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
7. "Banking House Merger.; Blair & Co. and William Salomon & Co. to Unite" (PDF). The New York Times. January 14, 1920. p. 18. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
8. Nolen, John (2005). New Towns for Old: Achievements in Civic Improvement in Some American Small Towns and Neighborhoods. Univ of Massachusetts Press. p. 111. ISBN 9781558494800. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
9. "Mrs. Jennie C. H. Marston". The New York Times. December 9, 1923. p. 23. Retrieved May 13, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
10. Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1917. p. 189. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
11. "Notes on the Crafts and Industrial Arts". The International Studio. 24–25: 81. 1905. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
12. "Hunter S. Marston, 94, Financier Who Founded Dixie Cup Concern" (PDF). The New York Times. October 18, 1979. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
13. "Miss Vanderhoef's Wedding.; Her Marriage to Hunter S. Marston Set for April 17" (PDF). The New York Times. March 11, 1909. p. 9. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
14. "H. S. Marston Jr. Weds Miss Russell; Army Lieutenant, Grandson of Late Edgar Marstons, Takes Oklahoma Girl as Bride" (PDF). The New York Times. April 4, 1943. p. 38. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
15. "Edgar Lewis Marston II '33". Princeton Alumni Weekly. January 21, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
16. "Miss Marston to Wed R. J. Adams". The New York Times. May 11, 1917. p. 11. Retrieved May 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Lawrence Tibbet Weds Mrs. Burgard; Operatic Baritone and Daughter of Banker Married at Home Here of Her Brother. Justice Dike Officiates; Friends and Relatives Only Are Present at Quiet Ceremony -- Wedding Trip to Be Short" (PDF). The New York Times. January 2, 1932. p. 14. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
18. Farkas, Andrew (1989). Lawrence Tibbett, Singing Actor. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 85. ISBN 9780931340178. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
19. "Mrs. Lawrence Tibbett Weds". The Kansas City Times. December 23, 1961. p. 2. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
20. "Resort Life, Chapter XXXIII: August - December 1967 Down East + Palm Beach + Naples + Virgin Islands". New York Social Diary. January 14, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
21. "Marston's Defense in Oil Suit is Filed; Supreme Court Gets Testimony Given Before Trial of Partner's Action for $55,707". The New York Times. June 13, 1923. p. 21. Retrieved May 13, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
22. "Hunter S. Marston Boathouse". Brown University Athletics. Brown University. Retrieved April 11, 2019.

External links

• Edgar Lewis Marston at Find a Grave
• Portrait of Edgar Lewis Marston, Hardin-Simmons University Library.