Background

John Randolph Dos Passos was born on July 31, 1844 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of Manoel Joquin Dos Passos, of a Portuguese family, and his wife, Lucinda Anne Cattell.

Education

Having received his early education at the public schools in his native city, Passos commenced the study of law under private tutors, and attended law lectures at the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

During the Civil War Passos enlisted in the Pennsylvania militia, taking part in the battle of Antietam and the later campaigns. At the close of hostilities he resumed his law studies and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1865. He practised there a short time, but removed in 1867 to New York City, where he quickly acquired a reputation through his association with the defense in some spectacular murder trials.

Attention was first drawn to him through his defense of Emil Andre who killed his wife in broad daylight on a public street in New York. Apparently the crime was without any extenuating circumstances, but Dos Passos succeeded in inducing the jury to return a verdict of manslaughter, thus saving Andre’s life. He also assisted in the defense of Edward S. Stokes when charged with the murder of “Jim” Fisk, and, on his client’s conviction, though not senior counsel, practically conducted the appeal which resulted, in June 1873, in the verdict being set aside.

Criminal practise, however, had no attraction for him, and his natural inclinations led him to the special study of problems of finance and exchange. With this object in view he opened an office in close proximity to the New York Stock Exchange and soon acquired an extensive connection among brokers and operators in the financial market. He gradually became known as an expert on the law of commercial exchange and wrote A Treatise on the Law of Stockbrokers and Stock Exchanges (1882), which was an immediate success and for a number of years remained the standard text-book on the subject.

Confining himself to corporation and banking law, he acquired a large practise of a very responsible and remunerative nature. Possessed of keen business instincts and a natural capacity for delicate diplomacy, he became the confidential adviser of many Wall St. firms. In 1891 he was employed by H. O. Havemeyer in the incorporation of the American Sugar Refining Company—the so-called “Sugar Trust”—the legal fee received on account of this work being the largest on record up to that time. For a number of years thereafter he acted as the company’s counsel. He also assisted in the formation of other large aggregations, and was a pioneer in the organization and development of the modern trust company.

On the subject of trusts he had strong opinions, recognizing as he did both their beneficial and their potentially evil attributes. He believed that the Sherman AntiTrust Law was “an unnecessary, anomalous and dangerous piece of legislation, ” and contributed in the public press and through his own publications many suggestions for remedied legislation.

He was exceptionally successful in the reconciliation of apparently conflicting interests and the adjustment of disputes in big business. It was mainly owing to his efforts that the reorganizations of the Texas & Pacific, the Reading, and the Erie Railroads were effected.

In his later years he took great interest in law reform, some of his views being entirely original and most of them radical in outlook. Shortly before his death he strongly urged in the public press that in a criminal trial the accused should be compelled to testify.

Achievements

• Passos was a pioneer in the organization and development of the modern trust company.

Works

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  • Commercial Mortmain: A Study of the Trust Problem

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Inter-State Commerce Act: An Analysis of Its Provisions

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • A Treatise On the Law of Stock-Brokers and Stock-Exchanges, Volume 2

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Anglo-Saxon Century and the Unification of the English-Speaking People

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Commercial trusts, the growth and rights of aggregated capital: an argument delivered before the Industrial Commission at Washington, December 12, 1899

    (This book is a replica, produced from digital images of t...)

Personality

Passos was possessed of great physical energy, and when he could get away from his professional employments, devoted himself to open-air pursuits, being a great pedestrian and lover of the country. He was also fond of the sea, and an enthusiastic yachtsman.

Connections

John's wife, whom he married on December 17, 1873, was Mary Dyckman Hays.

Father:

Manoel Joquin Dos Passos

Mother:

Lucinda Anne Cattell