John E. Parsons: An Eminent New Yorker in The Gilded Age

by Paul DeForest Hicks

Overview

John E. Parsons: An Eminent New Yorker in the Gilded Age is the captivating biography about the life and times of a man who was a major figure in the history of New York at the turn of the 20th century.

An attorney, philanthropist, and reformer, Parsons held a position of respect among such Gilded Age barons as Morgan, Rockefeller and Carnegie, helped establish institutions that became the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and contributed to amending the city’s legal bar association that helped put an end to the corruption of “Boss” Tweed’s Tammany Hall politicians.

When not performing his civic duties, Parsons enjoyed the country life in his home in Lenox, Massachusetts, where his generosity made him a beloved member of the Berkshire Hills community.

But despite his charitable works, Parsons’s role as a trustee for the Sugar Refineries Company—or “Sugar Trust”—embroiled him in a corporate conspiracy that would threaten to tarnish his reputation as a righteous and moral activist, and as one of New York’s greatest unsung heroes. The dramatic story of how he endured the protracted trial and publicity is a poignant testament to his strength of character and the widespread admiration in which he was held.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632260734
Publisher:	Easton Studio Press, LLC
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Paul DeForest Hicks, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, is a retired managing director of J.P. Morgan and lives in Rye, New York. He is the author of Joseph Henry Lumpkin: Georgia's First Chief Justice, published by The University of Georgia Press, which Atlanta History called, "A concise, direct and eminently readable volume..."

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Shipwreck 1

Chapter 2 Early Years 9

Chapter 3 A Gotham Education 18

Chapter 4 Success in the Law 34

Chapter 5 Peter Cooper and his Union 50

Chapter 6 More than a Lawyer 63

Chapter 7 The Bar Association and Boss Tweed 76

Chapter 8 Swallowtail Reformer 85

Chapter 9 Plutocrats and Philanthropists 96

Chapter 10 Hospital Pioneer 106

Chapter 11 A Knickerbocker 120

Chapter 12 Havemeyer and the Sugar Trust 129

Chapter 13 Return to Lounsberry 143

Chapter 14 Tariffs and Other Challenges 154

Chapter 15 Lenox and Country Life 165

Chapter 16 Family Matters 177

Chapter 17 Indicted 187

Chapter 18 A Gilded Age for Lawyers 203

Chapter 19 Summing Up 212

Bibliography 221

Index 225

Editorial Reviews

"This is a readable and enjoyable biography that enlightens us, telling the story with energy, rhythm and clarity. Right away, we know we are being let in on a great story of a man who shaped so much of our world today, offering us a window into who we are now and how we got here, recognizing our values, and our establishments. This is an important new history, as it has not been written before, and a singular work."
--Colin Harrington, Berkshire Eagle

From the Publisher