Samuel D. Babcock

Samuel Denison Babcock (May 16, 1822 – September 14, 1902) was an American banker. Early life Babock was born on May 16, 1822, in Stonington, Connecticut. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Babcock Sr. and Maria (née Eells) Babcock. His ancestors were natives of Essex, among the staunchest of Puritan families, who went to Leiden, Holland, before landing at Plymouth Rock in 1623 with one of the first parties of colonists following the Mayflower. The family grew wealthy and rose to prominence, holding high civil and military positions during the American Revolutionary War. Career At age fourteen, Babcock moved to New York City and began working as a bank messenger. He later served as president of the International Bell Telephone Company and of the Central, Manhattan, Colonial, and New York Real Estate Associations and the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York; vice president of the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company and the City and Suburban Homes Association; treasurer of the Improved Dwellings Association; a director of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, the National Bank of Commerce in New York, the American Exchange National Bank, the Continental Insurance Company, the Guarantee Trust Company, the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company, the United States Mortgage and Trust Company; a trustee of the Central Trust Company, the Fifth Avenue Trust Company, and of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the United States Lloyds.