James Lanier

James Lanier
Born	November 22, 1800 Beaufort County, North Carolina
Died	August 27, 1881(1881-08-27) (aged 80) New York, New York
Education	Transylvania University
Occupation	Businessman, banker
Employer	Winslow, Lanier & Co.
Religion	Presbyterian[1]
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Gardner Margaret Mary McClure
Parent(s)	Alexander Chalmers Sr. Drusilla Cleaves Doughty

James Franklin Doughty Lanier (November 22, 1800 – August 27, 1881) was an entrepreneur who lived in Madison, Indiana prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real estate.

Biography

James Lanier was born in 1800 in Beaufort County, North Carolina to Alexander Chalmers Sr. (1778-1820) and Drusilla Cleaves Doughty (died 1838). His home was in Kentucky from childhood until 1817, when his family moved to Madison, Indiana,^[1] the year after it became a state and lived at Schofield House. He studied law at Transylvania University and began practicing in 1820.

Career

During the 1820s, he was assistant clerk for the Indiana Legislature and later Clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives, where he was involved in assisting to move the capitol from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825.

In the early 1830s, Lanier became involved in banking. He became president of the Bank of Indiana in 1833 and eventually became a large shareholder of its Madison branch and was also on the board of directors that oversaw all branches. In the later 1830s, Lanier was involved with construction of the state's first major rail line connecting Madison and Indianapolis. He became a major stockholder in the line, which was finally finished in 1847. The line turned out to be very profitable.

The same year, Lanier represented Indiana in a meeting with its European creditors. The state was on the verge of bankruptcy due to extreme overspending on internal improvement over the previous decade and was liquidating its assets. Lanier was able to negotiate the transfer of ownership of most of the Indiana canals to their bond holders in exchange for a 50% reduction in the value of the bonds.^[2]

Lanier Mansion in Madison

His sudden wealth allowed him to build a large mansion in Madison; it was completed in 1844. His wife Elizabeth died in 1846 and he was remarried to Margaret Mary McClure in 1848.

In 1849, he began trading railroad shares in New York in a bank he started there in the same year with Richard Winslow called Winslow, Lanier & Co.. In 1851, he moved out of the state to New York, where he would manage his new business. He never moved back to Indiana.

At the request of Gov. Oliver P. Morton, Lanier loaned the Indiana government over one million dollars without security to help the state avoid bankruptcy during the American Civil War. The money was used to pay interest on the state debt and outfit troops. It was all repaid by 1870. The state, grateful for his help, has preserved his residence in Madison, the Lanier Mansion, as a state historic site.^[3]

Personal life

In 1819, he married his first wife, Elizabeth G. Gardner (1798-1846). Following Elizabeths death, he married Margaret Mary McClure (1825-1903), on January 20, 1848 in Madison, Indiana.^[4] Lanier's youngest son was Charles D. Lanier, a close friend of Pierpont Morgan, who carried on Winslow, Lanier & Co. after Laniers death.^[5]

• Alexander Chalmers Lanier II (1820–1895),^[4] who married Stella L. Godman Sering (1825-1899)^[6]
• Elizabeth Frances Lanier (1822–1910),^[4] who married William McKee Dunn (1814-1887),^[7] the U.S. Representative from Indiana and Judge Advocate General of the United States Army
• Drusilla Ann Lanier (1824–1903), who married John Robert Cravens (1819-1899), the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana^[4]
• John James Lanier (1829–1836), who drowned in the Ohio River at the age of 7^[8]
• Mary Lanier (1834–1909), who married John Cameron Stone (1826–1862) of New York on October 25, 1856^[4]
• Louisa Morris Lanier (1835–1885)^[4]
• Charles D. Lanier (1837–1926), who married Sarah E. Egleston (1837–1898), sister of Thomas Egleston (1832–1900)
  • James F. D. Lanier, who married Heber R. Bishop's daughter, Harriet. Bishop was the vice president of Presbyterian Hospital in 1893.^[9]
  • Sarah Eggleston Lanier (1862–1893), who married Francis Cooper Lawrance Jr. (1858-1904)^[10]
    • Charles Lanier Lawrance (1882–1950), who married Emily Margaret Gordon Dix, the daughter of Morgan Dix
    • Kitty Lanier Lawrance (1893–1936),^[11] who was married to W. Averell Harriman, the New York Governor, from 1915-1928.^[12]
• Jane McClure Lanier (1849–1849)^[4]

Lanier died in 1881 in New York and is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.^[4]

References

• Indiana State Museum

External links

• Works by or about James Lanier at Internet Archive
• James Lanier at Find a Grave