Samuel Reading Bertron Jr. was an American banker.
Biography
Samuel Reading Bertron Jr. was born on February 26, 1865 in Port Gibson, Mississippi. His father was Philadelphia born and Princeton University educated Presbyterian minister, Samuel Reading Bertron Sr. and his mother was German immigrant, Ottilie Mueler. Rev. S.R. Berton moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1835 where he preached in a variety of churches and institutions. The senior Bertron had three wives and 5 children. Rev. Bertron's wives were Caroline Christie, Catherine M'crane Barnes, and Ottilie Mueler, a German immigrant. The first two wives died in childbirth. Bertron Jr. had three sisters and a brother. Rev. Bertron's five children from the three wives were: Mary, Clara, Annie, Francis, and Samuel Reading Bertron Jr. Samuel Reading Bertron Jr. was the only child of Rev. Bertron and his third wife, whom he married in 1857. Rev. Bertron died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1878. Samuel Bertron Jr. was educated at Yale University. While at Yale, he was a member of Skull and Bones. According to family stories, Bertron's education was paid for by the McIlhenny family on the proviso he return to Port Gibson, Mississippi after his graduation in 1885 and work for them. According to the Quarter-centenary Record of the Class of 1885, of Yale University, Bertron did return to Port Gibson on graduating. He was admitted to the bar for Mississippi in 1886. Bertron Jr.'s rise in business was meteoric. He was transferred to the East Coast Branch of the Equitable Mortgage Company in Boston in 1889. He was then transferred to the New York City office in 1892. There he admitted to the bar for New York. Bertron gave up his law practice and left Equitable in 1894 to work for an investment company. In time, the company became his. Bertron met his wife, Caroline Maury Harding, in Port Gibson. They were married in 1888. Their one child, a daughter, Elizabeth Maury Bertron, married Snowden Andrews Fahnestock in 1910. She was his first wife. Two more followed after her. While in New York, Bertron was active as a part-time diplomat. In 1912, he helped peace negotiations between Italy and Turkey. In 1917, he was appointed to join the Root commission to Russia, led by Elihu Root. He appeared before the Federal electric railways commission. He died on June 30, 1938 in Cove Neck, New York. He was buried on Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson, Mississippi.
