James Lanier
Encyclopedia
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
who lived in Madison, Indiana
Madison, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,004 people, 5,092 households, and 3,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,402.9 people per square mile . There were 5,597 housing units at an average density of 654.1 per square mile...
prior to the outbreak of the 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...
(1861–1865). Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real-estate.
Biography
James Lanier was born in 1800 in Beaufort County, North CarolinaBeaufort County, North Carolina
- Law and government :Beaufort County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.Beaufort County is one of the proposed sites for a Navy outlying landing field. This practice airfield would allow pilots to simulate landings on an aircraft carrier...
. He and his family moved to Madison, Indiana
Madison, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,004 people, 5,092 households, and 3,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,402.9 people per square mile . There were 5,597 housing units at an average density of 654.1 per square mile...
in 1817, the year after it became a state. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Gardner, in 1819. He studied law at Transylvania University
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
and began practicing in 1820. During the 1820s he was assistance clerk to the Indiana Legislature and later Clerk to the Indiana House of Representatives where he was involved in assisting to move the capitol from Corydon
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
in 1825.
In the early 1830s, Lanier became involved in banking. He became president of the Bank of Indiana
Bank of Indiana
The state Bank of Indiana was a government chartered banking institution established in 1833 in response to the state's shortage of capital caused by the closure of the Second Bank of the United States by the administration of President Andrew Jackson...
in 1833 and eventually became a large shareholder of its Madison branch and was also on the board of directors that oversaw all branches. In the later 1830s, Lanier was involved with construction of the state's first major rail line connecting Madison and Indianapolis. He became a major stockholder in the line, which was finally finished in 1847. The line turned out to be very profitable.
The same year, Lanier represented Indiana in a meeting with its European creditors. The state was on the verge of bankruptcy due to extreme overspending on internal improvement over the previous decade and was liquidating its assets. Lanier was able to negotiate the transfer of ownership of most of the Indiana canals to their bond holders in exchange for a 50% reduction in the value of the bonds.
His sudden wealth allowed him to build a large mansion in Madison; it was completed in 1844. His wife Elizabeth died in 1846 and he was remarried to Margaret Mary McClure in 1848.
In 1849 Lanier began trading railroad shares in New York in a bank he started there in the same year with Richard Winslow called Winslow, Lanier & Co.
Winslow, Lanier & Co.
Winslow, Lanier & Co. was a New York-based investment firm founded by Indiana financier James Franklin Doughty Lanier and Richard Winslow in 1849. It was an early source of financing of railways in the United States, selling railroad securities to private investors in the United States and Europe....
. In 1851, Lanier moved out of the state to 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...
, where he would manage his new business. He never moved back to Indiana.
Lanier, at the request of Gov. Oliver Morton, loaned the Indiana government over one million dollars without security to help the state avoid bankruptcy during the 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...
. The money was used to pay interest on the state debt and outfit troops. It was all repaid by 1870. The state, grateful for his help, has preserved his residence in Madison, the Lanier Mansion
Lanier Mansion
The Lanier Mansion is the 1844 Greek Revival home of James F. D. Lanier, located at 601 West First Street in the Madison Historic District of Madison, Indiana. The home was designed by architect Francis Costigan of Madison....
, as a state historic site.
Lanier died in 1881 in New York.