(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Kate L. Davison

Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1871 - 1961

BiographyThe Davison family was one of the east coast’s most prominent families during the late
1800s/early 1900s. Their philanthropic efforts and their patriotic spirits during the First World
War did not go unnoticed by the American public.
Henry Pomeroy Davison was born on June 12, 1867 in Troy, Pennsylvania. He began he career
as a bookkeeper in a bank managed by a family member and when he was 21, found a job at a
bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was there he met his future wife. Mary Kate Trubee was
born on February 2, 1871 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. On April 13, 1893, she married Henry P.
Davison.
Three years later the couple moved to New York City where Davison held a position at the Astor
Place Bank. A few years later, Davison became president of the Liberty National Bank and then
became involved in the founding of the Bankers Trust Company. In 1909, Davison became a
senior partner at JP Morgan & Company. The following year Davison attended a secret meeting
in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Many believe this meeting led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.
Then the United States entered World War I, Davison was named Chairman of the War Council
of the American Red Cross. His first campaign brought in $4 million to send Red Cross teams to
various fronts.
Kate was active in the Red Cross during WWI as well. In 1917, she organized the Nassau
County Chapter and stood at its chairman for twenty seven years. She also gave Nassau County
its first Red Cross Chapter house in 1918. She died on January 31, 1961.
When the war ended, Henry Davison sought to create an international organization to coordinate
the work of various Red Cross societies. The League was formed on May 15, 1919 and included
the nations of Great Britain, France, Japan, Italy and the United States. Davison died from a
brain tumor in 1922.
Frances Davison was born in 1903. She married Ward Cheney, the son of Charles Cheney, a
partner at J.P. Morgan & Company in 1926. She and Ward had three children. Frances died in
1969.
Alice Davison was born on September 6, 1899 in Englewood, New Jersey. She married Artemus
L. Gates, a classmate of her brother, Trubee’s, in 1922. Together they had two children.
Henry Jr. was born April 3, 1898 in Englewood, New Jersey. He followed closely in his father’s
footsteps and went into the banking field. During WWI, Henry served in the American
Ambulance Corps in France. In 1929, after a year at Cambridge, Henry became a partner at J.P.
Morgan & Company (the same company his father had been a partner with) and in 1940 when
J.P. Morgan became an incorporated bank and trust company, Henry was made vice president
and director. In 1953 he was made senior vice president and eventually president in 1955.
When the company merged with the Guaranty Trust and became the Morgan Guaranty Trust,
Henry was elected vice chairman. He died on July 2, 1961.
Frederick Trubee Davison was born on February 7, 1896. The more politically inclined member
of the Davison family, Trubee attended Yale University. While there he created the First Yale
Unit in 1915. The First Yale Unit was the first naval air reserve unit and although Trubee was
injured during a training exercise and never saw combat, he remained active in the unit’s
activities throughout the war. Following college, Trubee was a member of the New York state
assembly from Nassau County’s 2nd District from 1922-1926. He also served as Director of
Personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency and as assistant Secretary of War in charge of
Aviation. Trubee died in 1976.
https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/files/8514/2661/1266/Davison_Family_Collection.pdf

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

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