Henry May Dawes was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman and banker from a prominent Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 family. He served as a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Comptroller of the Currency from 1923 to 1924 and also worked as an executive in the oil industry.

Dawes was born in Marietta, Ohio

Marietta, Ohio

Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...

, the youngest son of American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 brevet

Brevet (military)

In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...

 Brigadier General

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

 Rufus R. Dawes

Rufus R. Dawes

Rufus R. Dawes was a military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War. He used the middle initial "R" but had no middle name. He was noted for his service in the famed Iron Brigade, particularly during the Battle of Gettysburg...

 and great-great-grandson of American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 hero William Dawes

William Dawes

William Dawes, Jr. was one of several men and a woman who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution....

. His brothers Charles, Rufus

Rufus C. Dawes

Rufus Cutler Dawes was an American businessman from a prominent Ohio family.Dawes was born in Marietta, Ohio, to American Civil War Brigadier General Rufus R. Dawes and Mary Beman Dawes. He was a younger brother of Charles G. Dawes and great-great-grandson of Revolutionary War figure William Dawes...

, and Beman

Beman Gates Dawes

250px|right|thumbBeman Gates Dawes was a politician and oil executive who served two terms as a Republican Congressman from Ohio....

 also gained national and international prominence in politics and business. Henry M. Dawes graduated from Marietta College

Marietta College

Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...

 and entered business. He married Helen Moore Curtis of Coshocton, Ohio

Coshocton, Ohio

Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. The population of the city was 11,682 at the 2000 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River....

 in 1905.

Dawes was an Illinois banker and businessman when he was named Comptroller by President Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

 in 1923. Although he held office for only 19 months, Dawes carried out a nationwide effort to gather recommendations from national bank officials and other experts for changes in the banking laws. With the assistance of a volunteer committee of national bankers, Dawes drafted proposals that were submitted to Congress. The Dawes recommendations resulted in the McFadden Act

McFadden Act

The McFadden Act is a United States federal law, named after Louis Thomas McFadden member of the United States House of Representatives and Chairman of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency, enacted in 1927 from recommendations made by the comptroller of the currency Henry May...

, enacted under his successor.

Dawes returned to the oil industry after his term, as president of Pure Oil Company from 1924–52. In 1936, along with other oil company executives, he was indicted and stood trial for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act

Sherman Antitrust Act

The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...

. Acquitted, he resumed his civic duties, serving as Program Committee Chair for the Economic Club of Chicago from 1939 until 1940, as well as on its Board of Directors, along with his brother Rufus.