Samuel Ward (banker)

Samuel Ward III (born in Rhode Island, May 1, 1786; died in New York City, November 27, 1839) was a United States banker.

Samuel Ward III was born in Rhode Island on May 1, 1786. He was the son of Col. Samuel Ward, Jr. (1756–1832) and Phebe Greene. His paternal grandparents were Samuel Ward, Sr. (1725–1776) and Anne Ray. His maternal grandparents were William Greene, Jr. (1731–1809) and Catharine Ray.

After his education he entered a banking house as clerk, and in 1808 was taken into partnership, continuing as a member of the firm of Prime, Ward & King until his death. In 1838, he secured through the Bank of England a loan of nearly $5,000,000 to enable the banks to resume specie payments, and established the Bank of Commerce, becoming its president.

He was a founder of the University of the City of New York (now New York University) and of the New York Temperance Society, of which he was the first president, and was active in organizing mission churches. He was a patron of many charities and the giver of large sums in aid of Protestant Episcopal Churches and colleges in the west.

In October 1812, he married Julia Rush Cutler (born in Boston, January 5, 1796; died in New York City, November 9, 1824), the sister of Rev. Benjamin Clarke Cutler (who was the brother-in-law of General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe), and, through her mother, a grandniece of Francis Marion. Julia was a poet, and one of her poems is preserved in Rufus Wilmot Griswold's Female Poets of America (Philadelphia, 1848). They had seven children, including:

...
Wikipedia