Sketch of the Life of J. F. D. Lanier: (Printed for the Use of His Family Only.)
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James Franklin Doughty Lanier was an American financier. He became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real estate.
Background
James Franklin Doughty Lanier was the son of Alexander Chalmers Lanier and Drusilla (Doughty) Lanier. On his father's side he was of Huguenot ancestry, a distant relative of the poet Sidney Lanier. His grandfather fought in the Revolution as a captain in the regiment of light cavalry commanded by the dashing Col. William Washington and later served in General Wayne's victorious campaign against the Northwestern Indians. Lanier was born in Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina, but in 1807 his parents moved to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio. There his father manumitted two valuable slaves, whom he had taken with him, although they constituted a considerable portion of his estate. A few years later Alexander C. Lanier served as a major under General Harrison in the War of 1812. In 1817 the family moved to Madison, then one of the most important towns in the new state of Indiana, and there opened a drygoods store, but the father's health was poor and in 1820 he died insolvent, leaving debts that were ultimately paid by his son.
Education
For a year and a half he attended an academy at Newport, Kentucky. In 1823 completed a law course in Transylvania University.
Career
While at Eaton young Lanier worked for a time as a clerk in the store of Cornelius Van Ausdall. Shortly before his father's death he began to read law in the office of Gen. Alexander Meek. In 1824 he was appointed assistant clerk of the state House of Representatives, a post he continued to hold until 1827, when he became chief clerk. In this work he made acquaintances that were later to be of great service to him. As a lawyer he was successful, but the profession proved too much for his strength.
When the State Bank of Indiana was chartered in 1833, he took a larger share of the stock first subscribed than did any other individual and became the first president of the Madison branch, and a member of the general board of control with Hugh McCulloch, later secretary of the treasury. When the panic of 1837 came, the Bank of Indiana was one of the few in the Mississippi Valley to weather the storm. As a result, its officers won a great and well-deserved reputation for honesty and financial ability.
Since the bank at that time was a depository of $1, 500, 000 of United States funds, Lanier, as a representative of the board of control, set out for Washington with $80, 000 in gold to report the condition of the institution to the secretary of the treasury. He was cordially received by Levi Woodbury, then secretary, who told him that his bank "was the only one that had offered to pay any part of its indebtedness in specie" (Lanier's autobiography, p. 15). The bank was permitted to retain the government deposits until they were exhausted through regular disbursements, and Woodbury insisted upon Lanier's accepting the post of pension agent for a part of the western region.
A decade later Lanier went to Europe in the interest of his state and succeeded in making an arrangement that restored the financial credit of Indiana, which was badly in arrears in interest on its bonds. During this period he aided in the resuscitation of the first railroad in Indiana, the Madison & Indianapolis.
Late in 1848 he moved to New York City, where on January 1, 1849, he helped to found the firm of Winslow, Lanier & Company. They were pioneers in the floating of railway securities, and since the time was opportune for such an enterprise their success was speedy and remarkable. Soon, Lanier later wrote, they "not unfrequently negotiated a million dollars of bonds daily, " and their total for a year was, for that period, enormous. In the six years, 1849 to 1854 inclusive, in which they were engaged in this kind of business, 10. 724 miles of new railroad were constructed, and Winslow, Lanier & Company were connected, in one way or another, with all the important lines. With their negotiation of bond issues they frequently coupled contracts for the purchase of rails; generally also the firm was the agent for the payment of interest in the bonds they had floated.
Lanier's most striking public service was rendered during the Civil War. At the outbreak of that struggle the State of Indiana had no money in its treasury, but Lanier loaned Oliver P. Morton, the Republican governor, over $400, 000, with which he was able to equip Indiana's troops much more rapidly than would otherwise have been possible. In 1862 the Democrats won in the state election, gaining control of the legislature and most of the state offices; the legislature thereupon attempted to take the control of the militia away from the governor. To prevent the enactment of this and other dangerous measures, the loyal members withdrew, leaving the legislature without a quorum. This step enabled the governor to retain command of the militia, but left the treasury without the money to pay interest on its debt. In this grave crisis Lanier again came forward, advanced $640, 000, and saved the financial reputation of the state, although he knew that the only hope of repayment lay in the patriotism and honesty of some future legislature. Repayment was, in fact, an issue in the campaign of 1864, and when the Union party under the leadership of Morton won the day, the new legislature reimbursed Lanier, with interest.
Following the Civil War, while on trips to Europe, Lanier did much, as unofficial representative of the United States government, to convince European financial circles of the stability of the government and the desirability of its bonds. In the early forties he built at Madison a large mansion which eventually belonged to the State of Indiana and was preserved partly as a museum and example of the best architecture of the period and partly as a memorial to Lanier's public services. He died in New York and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
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Connections
Lanier was twice married: to Elizabeth Gardiner, in 1819; and after her death, to Mary McClure in 1848. There were eight children by the first marriage and at least one by the second.