Ransom Halloway Thomas (August 9, 1852 – October 19, 1922) was an American banker who served as president of the New York Stock Exchange during the
Panic of 1907.
In 1885, he was a member of the banking firm of Titus & Thomas located at 4 Broad Street.[2] Thomas established the firm of R. H. Thomas & Son, which was located at 100 Broadway. Shortly before his death, he sold his seat as a board member of the Exchange after nearly fifty years of membership (having acquired his seat on November 5, 1874). Throughout his time with the Exchange, he was associated with the chief committees of the Exchange and was President of the Stock Exchange Building Company at the time of his death.[3]
In 1903, Thomas succeeded
Rudolph Keppler as president of the New York Stock Exchange.[4] He served as president of the Exchange during the
Panic of 1907.[5][6] Through Thomas' efforts,
J. Pierpont Morgan and 14 bank presidents pledged $23.6 million to keep the stock exchange afloat.[7]
In 1880, Thomas was married to Susan Reed "Susie" Herrick (1857–1942),[11] a daughter of merchant John J. Herrick and Jane Eliza (née
Van Buskerck) Herrick.[2] Susie's father moved to
Tarrytown, New York, in 1859 where "he had built one of the largest and finest castellated residences in America."[2] The house known as Ericstan, was designed by
Alexander Jackson Davis and demolished in 1944.[12] Together, they were the parents of:
Ransom Hallaway Thomas Jr. (1882–1939), a graduate of
Harvard University,[13] who married pilot Anna Ward (1907–1959).[14]
Frederick Herrick Thomas (1884–1940),[15] a
Yale University graduate.[16] He died on the golf course in 1940.[17]
DeWitt Van Buskerck Thomas.[15] He was listed on the New York
Social Register in 1923.[18] After his brother's death in 1939, he married his widow Anna.[14]
Elizabeth Herrick Thomas (1894–1911), who died aged 16.[19]
In September 1901, Thomas purchased fellow enthusiast
William K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s famous
DaimlerPhoenix automobile known as the "White Ghost."[20] Vanderbilt had purchased the 23-hp car, the first four-cylinder road car, in Germany in 1900.[20][21] Thomas later sold the car to John B. Drake of Chicago.[22]