William Augustus Read (1858-1916)

He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at Brooklyn High School and the Brooklyn Polytechnic & Collegiate Institute. He embarked on a career in finance entering the firm of Vermilye & Co. In 1904, he succeeded the senior partner and the firm became known as W.A. Read & Co., and later as Dillon, Read & Co. Read enjoyed a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable minds on Wall Street when it came to securities. He was a director of the Bank of New York; the Central Trust Company of New York; the Alliance Assurance Company of London; the Twin City Rapid Transit Company; and, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. In private, he was a well-known collector of books and boasted an impressive library noted for, "the artistic beauty of the bindings in which they were preserved". In 1894, he married Caroline, daughter of Samuel Seaman, President of the Cromwell Steamship Company, and they had 7-children who lived to adulthood. Their eldest four sons were all Naval Aviators. They lived between 4 East 62nd Street, New York, and "Hill Crest" at Purchase, New York. They frequently summered at Lenox, Massachusetts, leasing Shadow Brook in 1901 and 1902.