Gustav Hermann Kinnicutt (January 23, 1877 – December 6, 1943) was a prominent American investment banker.[1]
Early life
Kinnicutt was born on January 23, 1877, in New York City.[2] He was the eldest of two sons born to Susanna Eleonora (
née Kissel) (1852–1910) and Dr. Francis Parker Kinnicutt (1846–1913), who served for many years as trustee and president of
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.[3][4] Dr. Kinnicutt was also a close friend of novelist
Edith Wharton, and owned a "rambling Colonial Revival house on Cliffwood Street overlooking the golf course," known as Deepdene in
Lenox, Massachusetts.[5]
He was named after his maternal grandfather, Gustav Hermann Kissel, a
Hesse born banker.[6]
In 1900, Kinnicutt began his banking career with
J.P. Morgan & Co. In 1904, he organized his own firm, known as Kinnicutt & Potter, which continued through various name changes, including
Kissel, Kinnicutt & Co. with his uncle, Gustav Kissel.[7][8]
During
World War I, Kinnicutt was chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee in New Jersey. In 1922, Kissel, Kinnicutt & Co. offered $3,000,000 in farm loan bonds for Chicago
Joint StockLand Bank.[9] In December 1931, it was announced that Kissel, Kinnicutt & Co. would merge with
Kidder, Peabody & Co., at which point, Kinnicutt joined the new firm as a general partner on January 1, 1932.[10]
In 1934, Kinnicutt appeared in Washington before the
House Interstate Commerce Committee as a representative of eighteen investment firms from New York to "protest what was termed the paralyzing legislation of the
Fletcher-
Rayburnstock exchange bill." He also joined with other prominent investment bankers to demand Federal supervision over regulation of stock markets.[1]
At the time of his death, he was a senior partner with Kidder, Peabody which was located at 17
Wall Street.[1]
Personal life
On April 18, 1907, Kinnicutt married to May Appleton Tuckerman (1886–1947) at the Church of the Incantation at
Madison Avenue and
35th Street.[11][12] She was the daughter of Annie Cotton (née Smith) and
Bayard Tuckerman and sister of
Bayard Tuckerman Jr.[13] Together, the Kinnicutts had homes in
Manhattan,
Maine,
Paris, and a large summer home in
Far Hills, New Jersey, known as Mayfields. May and Hermann were the parents of four children, three of whom lived to adulthood:
Francis Parker Kinnicutt (1908–1961), who married Sybil Kane Jay (1914–1997) on February 14, 1937.[14][12][15]