James Lanier
| James Lanier | |
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| Born | November 22, 1800 Beaufort County, North Carolina |
| Died | August 27, 1881 (aged 80) New York, New York |
| Education | Transylvania University |
| Occupation | Businessman, banker |
| Employer | Winslow, Lanier & Co. |
| Spouse(s) |
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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.
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, the year after it became a state and lived at Schofield House. He studied law at Transylvania University and began practicing in 1820.
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.
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.
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