Arthur D. Bissell
President of the People's Bank of Buffalo
In office
1903–1920
Preceded byDaniel O'Day
Succeeded byHoward Bissell
Collector of the Port of Buffalo
In office
1885–1889
Appointed byGrover Cleveland
Preceded byCharles A. Gould
Succeeded byWilliam J. Morgan
Personal details
Born
Arthur Douglas Bissell

(1844-01-10)January 10, 1844
New London, New York
DiedNovember 13, 1926(1926-11-13) (aged 82)
Spouse
Fanny Castle
​
(m. 1876)​
RelationsWilson S. Bissell (brother)
Children7
Parent(s)Isabella Jeannette Hally
John Bissell
Alma materYale University

Arthur Douglas Bissell (January 10, 1844 – November 13, 1926) was an American banker who served as the Collector of Customs for the Port of Buffalo.

Early life

Bissell was born on January 10, 1844, in New London, New York and was of Scotch-Irish ancestry.[1] He was the son of Isabella Jeannette (née Hally) Bissell (1813–1885) and John Bissell (1808–1889), who was involved in the transportation business.[2] His younger brother, Wilson Shannon Bissell, was also a Yale graduate who became Postmaster General under President Grover Cleveland, Wilson's former law partner.[3] He also served as President of the Buffalo and Geneva Railroad.[4] His sister, Mary Eleanor Bissell, was the wife of Dexter Phelps Rumsey.[5]

In 1852, at the age of six, his family moved to Buffalo.[6] He was educated at Clinton Preparatory School, and received a B.A. from Yale University in 1867, where he was a member of Skull and Bones.[7]: 489 

Career

The People's Bank of Buffalo building at Amherst and Germain Street, Buffalo, erected in 1920.

Upon graduation Arthur joined his father and uncle at the Bissell Transportation Company and served as the Buffalo agent of the Erie Boatmen's Transportation Company. A Democrat, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Superintendent of Public Works in Buffalo in 1883.[8] In May 1885, he was appointed by his brother's good friend, Grover Cleveland, as Collector of Customs for the Port of Buffalo to succeed Charles A. Gould,[9] under whose tenure the annual collection of the port increased from $800,000 in 1881 to $1,500,000 in 1885.[8]

In 1889, he helped form and was elected vice president of the newly created People's Bank of Buffalo. In 1903, he succeeded Daniel O'Day to become president of the bank serving until 1920 when he was succeeded as president by his son, Howard, and became chairman of the board of directors. He also served as president of the New York State Bankers Association.[10] The People's Bank of Buffalo merged with Manufacturers and Traders Trust in 1927, creating a new company known as Manufacturers and Traders-People's Trust Company, with about $135,000,000 in combined deposits.[11] The bank was headquartered in M&T's Fidelity Trust Building with Lewis G. Harriman as president and Howard Bissell as chairman of the board.[12]

Personal life

On June 16, 1876, Bissell married Frances "Fanny" Castle (1852–1929), a daughter of Fanny (née Durkee) Castle and silversmith Daniel Beech Castle who was originally from Bethlehem, Connecticut.[13][14] He was a Presbyterian and a member of the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, the University Club of Buffalo and the Country Club of Buffalo.[15] Together, Arthur and Fanny resided at 950 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo and were the parents of at least six children:

  • Thomas Hally Bissell (1875–1897), who died unmarried of typhoid fever while attending MIT.[16]
  • Mary Eleanor Bissell (1876–1938),[17] who married James Dunlap Warren, son of Orsamus G. Warren, owner of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, in 1907.[18]
  • Howard Bissell (1878–1937), who married Dorothy Carroll Trego, stepdaughter of Col. Albert B. Hilton, in 1910.[19]
  • Raymond Bissell (1880–1926), president of the Cutler Desk Company who married Helen Warren, daughter of Orsamus G. Warren,[18] in 1906.[13]
  • Arthur Douglas Bissell Jr. (1884–1968),[20] who married Ella L. (née Benning) Davis.[21]
  • Jeanette Bissell (1886–1983),[22] who married Bradley Goodyear, youngest son of Charles W. Goodyear, in 1910.[23]
  • Lloyd Bissell (1891–1977), who Dorothy Pendennis White, a daughter of banker and lumberman Pendennis White,[24] in 1916.[25]

His son Raymond predeceased him in February 1926.[13] Bissell died on November 13, 1926.[6]

Descendants

Through his daughter Jeanette, he was a grandfather of Frances "Fanny" Goodyear (1914–1975), who married Prince Ludwig "Louis" Della Torre e Tasso, son of Prince Alessandro, 1st Duke of Castel Duino in 1939.[26] They divorced in 1948 and she married Daniel Barton Streeter, son of Daniel Willard Streeter, in 1949.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Buffalo Historical Society Publications. Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Historical Society. 1904. p. 489. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year ... D. Appleton & Company. 1894. p. 736. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "Obituary | Buffalo Medical Journal Vol. LIX.-XLIII. August 1903, to July, 1904". 1904: 275. Retrieved 18 April 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ "WILSON S. BISSELL MARRIED.; EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND A GUEST AT A GENEVA WEDDING CEREMONY". The New York Times. 7 February 1890. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Wilner, Merton Merriman (1931). Niagara Frontier: A Narrative and Documentary History. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 97. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 "ARTHUR D. BISSELL DIES AT 82 YEARS; Ex-CoUector of Port of Buffalo Was Brother of Postmaster General Under Cleveland". The New York Times. 15 November 1926. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. ↑ Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, vol. 7, 1904
  8. 1 2 "BUFFALO'S NEW COLLECTOR". The New York Times. 10 May 1885. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "APPOINTED TO OFFICE". The New York Times. 10 May 1885. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  10. ↑ Cutter, William Richard (1912). Genealogical and Family History of Western New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 142. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "M&T Bank Celebrates 150 Years". ir.mtb.com. Buffalo, New York: M&T Bank. August 24, 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "TWO BUFFALO BANKS MERGE; Manufacturers and Traders Trust and People's Bank Unite". The New York Times. 20 April 1927. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University... Yale University. 1926. p. 192. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  14. ↑ "Daniel Beach Castle". americansilversmiths.org. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  15. ↑ Leonard, John W. (1926). Who's who in Finance, Banking and Insurance: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. Who's who in finance, incorporated. p. 86. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  16. ↑ "A GREAT BEREAVEMENT. Death of Thomas Hally Bissell, Son of Arthur D. Bissell". The Buffalo Commercial. 21 December 1897. p. 9. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "WARREN--Mary Eleanor Bissell Warren". The Buffalo News. 15 November 1938. p. 30. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. 1 2 "OBITUARY. | ORSAMUS G. WARREN". The New York Times. 7 May 1892. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  19. ↑ Times, Special to The New York (6 October 1910). "MISS DOROTHY TREGO A BRIDE.; Stepdaughter of Col. Hilton Wedded to Howard Bissell of Buffalo". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "BISSELL--Arthur Douglas Jr". The Buffalo News. 6 January 1968. p. 12. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  21. ↑ Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1942. p. 820. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "Jeanette Bissell Goodyear". Buffalo Courier. September 24, 1925. p. 12. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Bradley Goodyear, Buffalo Lawyer, Dies in Cooperstown". The Buffalo News. 6 February 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  24. ↑ "FATAL AUTO CRASH.; Pendennis White, a Banker, Killed In Buffalo". The New York Times. 1 June 1906. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  25. ↑ "Lloyd Bissell Dies; Buffalo Businessman". The Buffalo News. 22 October 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  26. ↑ "FANNY GOODYEAR WED TO PRINCE ON JUNE 10". The New York Times. June 23, 1939. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "Princeton Alumni Weekly". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 1 January 1948. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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