George Herbert Walker
Encyclopedia
George Herbert Walker was a wealthy American banker and businessman. His daughter Dorothy
married Prescott Bush
, making him a grandfather of former President
George H. W. Bush
and a great-grandfather of former President George W. Bush
.
, Missouri
, Walker was the youngest son of David Davis Walker
, a dry goods
merchant from Bloomington
, Illinois
, and Martha Adela Beaky. Ely, Walker & Company, which grew into a leading regional wholesaler, was later acquired by Burlington Industries
. Walker studied at Stonyhurst College
, a Jesuit boarding school in England. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis
in 1897.
In 1900, he started a banking and investment firm named G.H. Walker & Co. His family had developed many international banking contacts, and he helped organize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
. Walker was known as the power behind the local Democratic Party
.
In 1920, Walker became the President of the W.A. Harriman & Co. investment firm, and quickly arranged the credits that Averell Harriman needed to take control of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Walker also organized the American Ship and Commerce Corp. to be subsidiary of the W.A. Harriman & Co., with contractual power over the affairs of the Hamburg-Amerika. W.A. Harriman & Co. (renamed Harriman Brothers & Company
in 1927) well-positioned for this enterprise and rich in assets from their German and Russian business, merged with the British-American investment house Brown Bros. & Co.
on January 1, 1931. Walker retired to his own G.H. Walker & Co. This left the Harriman brothers, his son-in-law Prescott Bush
and Thatcher M. Brown as senior partners of the new firm of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
The firm's London branch continued operating under its historic name Brown, Shipley & Co.
Walker was a director of the W.A. Harriman & Company; Harriman Fifteen, American International Corporation; Georgian Manganese Corporation; Barnsdall Corporation; American Ship & Commerce Corporation; Union Banking Corporation
; G.H. Walker & Company; Missouri Pacific Railroad
; Laclede Gas and the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad.
In addition to his business concerns, Walker was also a golf enthusiast and a President of the United States Golf Association
(USGA). The USGA's Walker Cup
(the famous biennial golf match) acquired Walker's namessake for his role in the event's creation. His son-in-law, Prescott Bush was a member of the executive committee of the USGA, serving successively as Secretary, Vice President and President, 1928-1935. He also coheaded the syndicate, (with W. Averell Harriman
), which rebuilt the famed sports venue of Madison Square Garden
and the Belmont Race Track
, 1925. His brother-in-law Joseph Walker Wear was one of the founders of the Davis Cup
.
Walker came from a Maryland family of slave owners, something they attempted to keep secret. He married Lucretia Wear (1874-1961) and they had
six children: Dorothy Wear Walker
and New York Mets
cofounder George Herbert Walker, Jr.
, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
CEO Dr. John M. Walker
, Sr. (father of Judge John M. Walker, Jr.
), James Wear Walker, Nancy Walker, and Louis Walker (S&B 1936).
Walker died in 1953 in New York City
, New York
, aged 78. He was survived by his wife, daughter Dorothy Walker Bush
, grandson George H.W. Bush, and several great-grandchildren.
Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Wear Walker Bush , mother to 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the grandmother of 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Time on her death wrote that "George Bush was shaped and tempered by his mother's nature." Dorothy Bush raised her five children...
married Prescott Bush
Prescott Bush
Prescott Sheldon Bush was a Wall Street executive banker and a United States Senator, representing Connecticut from 1952 until January 1963. He was the father of George H. W. Bush and the grandfather of George W...
, making him a grandfather of former President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and a great-grandfather of former President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Life and career
Born in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Walker was the youngest son of David Davis Walker
David Davis Walker
David Davis "D.D." Walker , a St. Louis dry goods wholesaler, founded Ely & Walker, which remains a clothing brand to this day. Walker was a first cousin of Senator and Supreme Court Justice David Davis. Through his son George Herbert Walker, he was the great-grandfather of President George H. W....
, a dry goods
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
merchant from Bloomington
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and Martha Adela Beaky. Ely, Walker & Company, which grew into a leading regional wholesaler, was later acquired by Burlington Industries
Burlington Industries
Burlington Industries is a diversified U. S. fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexico, and India and a global manufacturing and product development network based in Hong Kong. The company entered Chapter 11...
. Walker studied at Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
, a Jesuit boarding school in England. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
in 1897.
In 1900, he started a banking and investment firm named G.H. Walker & Co. His family had developed many international banking contacts, and he helped organize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
. Walker was known as the power behind the local Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
In 1920, Walker became the President of the W.A. Harriman & Co. investment firm, and quickly arranged the credits that Averell Harriman needed to take control of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Walker also organized the American Ship and Commerce Corp. to be subsidiary of the W.A. Harriman & Co., with contractual power over the affairs of the Hamburg-Amerika. W.A. Harriman & Co. (renamed Harriman Brothers & Company
Harriman Brothers & Company
Harriman Brothers & Company was an investment bank and brokerage firm founded by brothers W. Averell Harriman and E. Roland Harriman in 1927. In 1931, the firm merged with Brown Bros. & Co. to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.-History:...
in 1927) well-positioned for this enterprise and rich in assets from their German and Russian business, merged with the British-American investment house Brown Bros. & Co.
Brown Bros. & Co.
Brown Bros. & Co. was an investment bank from 1818 until its merger with Harriman Brothers & Company in 1931 to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.-History:...
on January 1, 1931. Walker retired to his own G.H. Walker & Co. This left the Harriman brothers, his son-in-law Prescott Bush
Prescott Bush
Prescott Sheldon Bush was a Wall Street executive banker and a United States Senator, representing Connecticut from 1952 until January 1963. He was the father of George H. W. Bush and the grandfather of George W...
and Thatcher M. Brown as senior partners of the new firm of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is an American investment bank and securities firm, founded in 1818, it is the oldest and largest private bank in the United States. Brown Brothers Harriman serves clients globally in three main businesses: Investment Banking & Advisory, Wealth Management, Commercial...
The firm's London branch continued operating under its historic name Brown, Shipley & Co.
Brown, Shipley & Co.
Brown, Shipley & Co. is a long-established British private bank, based in London.It provides investment management, pensions and associated advisory services for private, institutional and corporate clients.-History:...
Walker was a director of the W.A. Harriman & Company; Harriman Fifteen, American International Corporation; Georgian Manganese Corporation; Barnsdall Corporation; American Ship & Commerce Corporation; Union Banking Corporation
Union Banking Corporation
The Union Banking Corporation was a banking corporation in the US whose assets were seized by the United States government during World War II under the Trading with the Enemy Act and Executive Order No. 9095. According to an Oct...
; G.H. Walker & Company; Missouri Pacific Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
; Laclede Gas and the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad.
In addition to his business concerns, Walker was also a golf enthusiast and a President of the United States Golf Association
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
(USGA). The USGA's Walker Cup
Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...
(the famous biennial golf match) acquired Walker's namessake for his role in the event's creation. His son-in-law, Prescott Bush was a member of the executive committee of the USGA, serving successively as Secretary, Vice President and President, 1928-1935. He also coheaded the syndicate, (with W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
), which rebuilt the famed sports venue of Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
and the Belmont Race Track
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
, 1925. His brother-in-law Joseph Walker Wear was one of the founders of the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
.
Walker came from a Maryland family of slave owners, something they attempted to keep secret. He married Lucretia Wear (1874-1961) and they had
six children: Dorothy Wear Walker
Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Wear Walker Bush , mother to 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the grandmother of 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Time on her death wrote that "George Bush was shaped and tempered by his mother's nature." Dorothy Bush raised her five children...
and New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
cofounder George Herbert Walker, Jr.
George Herbert Walker, Jr.
George Herbert Walker, Jr. , an American businessman and the uncle of President George H. W. Bush. He was an original owner of the New York Mets, a team which he co-founded in 1960 with Joan Whitney Payson....
, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
CEO Dr. John M. Walker
John M. Walker
Dr. John Mercer Walker, Sr. was an American physician and investment banker. A member of the prominent Bush-Walker family, he was a maternal uncle of US President George H.W. Bush....
, Sr. (father of Judge John M. Walker, Jr.
John M. Walker, Jr.
John Mercer Walker, Jr. is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a cousin of U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush...
), James Wear Walker, Nancy Walker, and Louis Walker (S&B 1936).
Walker died in 1953 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, aged 78. He was survived by his wife, daughter Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Wear Walker Bush , mother to 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the grandmother of 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Time on her death wrote that "George Bush was shaped and tempered by his mother's nature." Dorothy Bush raised her five children...
, grandson George H.W. Bush, and several great-grandchildren.