C. Ledyard Blair


Clinton Ledyard Blair was a prominent American investment banker and yachtsman.

Early years

Blair was born in Belvidere, New Jersey on July 16, 1867. He was the son of DeWitt Clinton Blair, a philanthropist and industrialist, and Mary Anna Blair. His paternal grandfather was John Insley Blair, one of the wealthiest men of the 19th century.
He attended the Lawrenceville School and then Princeton University, graduating in 1890 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Career

While still a senior at Princeton, Blair joined his father and grandfather in founding the banking firm of Blair & Company, primarily to manage railroad interests linked to the Gould family. The firm underwrote a $50 million bond issue of the Western Pacific Railroad and helped in the financial management of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Western Maryland Railroad.
After Blair & Company merged with the firm of William Salomon & Co. in April 1920, Ledyard Blair was named chairman of the board of directors. He was also the director of several railway companies, including the Clinchfield Railroad, the Sussex Railroad, and the Green Bay and Western Railroad.
Blair & Co. was active in assisting with the mergers of oil companies. In 1924-1925, the firm arranged a deal in which Standard Oil of Indiana obtained control of the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company and Lago Petroleum Company in Venezuela.

Society life

An avid yachtsman, Blair was named Commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1910. During World War I, he turned over his 254-foot steel yacht, Diana, to the U.S. government and gave up yachting. At the outbreak of the war in 1914, Blair was on the SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie, a North German Lloyd ocean liner, sailing from New York City to Plymouth, England. Nearing Plymouth, news of hostilities forced the ship to turn back. Blair took the helm and safely piloted the ship to Bar Harbor, Maine, where his family had a summer home. The ship was carrying $10 million in gold and $3.5 million in silver.
Blairsden, Ledyard Blair's opulent 38-room mansion in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, was built between 1898 and 1903. Blair threw lavish weddings for each of the Blair daughters, all held at Blairsden. He also owned a mansion in New York City, now known as C. Ledyard Blair House. In addition to Blairsden, he had residences in Newport, Rhode Island, "Honeysuckle Lodge," and Bermuda, "Deepdene."

Personal life

On October 1, 1891, he married Florence Osborne Jennings and they had four daughters:
Blair's first wife Florence died on November 15, 1931. In 1936, he married Harriet Stewart Brown, the widow of Thomas Suffern Tailer, and daughter of Baltimore banker Alexander Brown.
Blair died on February 7, 1949 in Manhattan and was buried in Saint Bernards Cemetery, beside his first wife Florence.