Charles D. Lanier (1837-1926)

He was born at Madison, Indiana, and spent his early years at the Lanier Mansion. His father moved to New York permanently from 1851 and he was educated at the Russell Military School in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1859, he joined Winslow, Lanier & Co., in New York, the bank established by his father to promote western railroad interests. He remained with the firm until his death and through his great friendship with J.P. Morgan made it into one of the largest banking concerns of its day. He was a director of the Southern Railway; the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway; the Massillon & Cleveland Railroad; the Central Railroad of New Jersey; the West Shore Railroad; the Western Union Telegraph Co.; the Central & South American Telegraph Co.; the Madison Square Garden Co.; and, the National Bank of Commerce.

From 1875 to 1923, he was on the board of the American Museum of Natural History. From 1897 to 1914, he was President of the famously exclusive Jekyll Island Club, a member of all the leading social clubs in New York, and was one of what was dubbed the "Corsair Club," a small group of powerful friends who met for sumptuous lunches and dinners on board J.P. Morgan's yacht, Corsair. He and wife travelled frequently to London and Paris and were regular guests at Dover House. In Manhattan, they lived at 30 East 37th Street and kept a summer estate, Allen Winden, at Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1857, he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Egleston of New York and Lenox, and they were the parents of four children who were all prominent in Gilded Age society. The Laniers grand-daughter who grew up in their household, Kitty, was the first husband of W. Averell Harriman, Governor of New York. Lanier died with a fortune of $9.7 million.