Metropolitan Trust Company


The Metropolitan Trust Company of the City of New York was a trust company located in New York City that was founded in 1881. The trust company merged with the Chatham and Phenix National Bank in 1925 under the name of the Chatham Phenix National Bank and Trust Company of New York.

History

The company opened its doors at 41 Pine Street in Manhattan on November 28, 1881, although it had planned to open on December 1, 1881 but change was "necessary by causes which the gentleman interested in the new enterprise hails as a pleasant augury." The first president of the company was Gen. Thomas Hillhouse, who had just resigned as the Assistant Treasurer of the United States in New York City and president of the Northern Pacific Railway and President of the New York Stock Exchange. He served as president for fifteen years until his poor health required him to resign in 1912. The presidency remained vacant until April 1914 when George C. Van Tuyl Jr. was elected president and resigned as New York State Superintendent of Banks.
Van Tuyl served as president until 1920. During his tenure, the deposits of the company grew from $27,000,000 to $39,000,000 and was located at 49 Wall Street. Van Tuyl was succeeded by Harold I. Pratt. Pratt's tenure was short-lived, however, as he resigned on September 1, 1921 but stayed on as acting president until his successor was elected. In 1921, Harold B. Thorne, vice president of the Trust Company, announced that Metropolitan was moving from their current office at 60 Wall Street, had taken over the office space of the Liberty branch of the New York Trust Company in the Equitable Building with a fourteen year lease beginning on January 1, 1922. In December 1921, the company moved approximately $1,000,000 in securities, gold and currency from their old office to the new office at 120 Broadway.
In 1922 Major General Samuel McRoberts became the fifth president of Metropolitan Trust. McRoberts, an attorney who had served as general manager of Armour and Company, president of the Illinois Tunnel Company and vice president of the National City Bank of New York was well known for his contributions to the Allies during World War I in the United States Army Ordnance Department.

Merger with Chatham and Phenix National Bank

In January 1925, it was announced that the Metropolitan Trust Company, which had resources of $61,907,998, was to merge with the Chatham and Phenix National Bank, which had total resources of $226,901,582, under the name of the Chatham Phenix National Bank and Trust Company of New York, the first time a national bank in New York City was permitted to use the name "Trust Company". Metropolitan president McRoberts became chairman of the board of directors of the combined entity and Chatham and Phenix leader Louis G. Kaufman became president. In March 1925, $250,000,000 worth of securities were "moved in four armored cars, guarded by machine guns, from the vaults of the old Metropolitan Trust Company, in the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, to the Chatham and Phenix National Bank in the Singer Building, at 149 Broadway." The new company had resources of around $300,000,000 and retained the roughly 330 employees of Chatham and Phenix and the 175 employees of Metropolitan. At the time of its formation, it was one of the ten largest banks in the United States. In 1932, the company merged with the Manufacturers Trust.

Leadership of Metropolitan Trust

  • 1881–1897: Thomas Hillhouse
  • 1898–1912: Brayton Ives
  • 1914–1920: George C. Van Tuyl Jr.
  • 1920–1921: Harold I. Pratt
  • 1922–1925: Samuel McRoberts