Edward Larocque Tinker (East Setauket, NY)
Edward Larocque Tinker (Sep. 12, 1881 – July 1968)
Biography
- Name: Edward Laroque Tinker
- Birth: September 12, 1881 in New York City
- Death: July 6, 1968, New York City
Dr. Edward Larocque Tinker was a lawyer, author and founder of the Tinker National Bank of East Setauket, New York. He was a specialist in Latin-American affairs and an expert on the French period in Louisiana. During World War I, Tinker was a lieutenant in the Navy and later served in the New York National Guard. Tinker was born and raised in New York where he was an assistant district attorney briefly after graduating from New York University Law School. He quit to travel in Mexico and during the Mexican revolution he traveled with Pancho Villa and Gen Alvaro Obregon. He was with Obregon during the Sonora Campaign and he took care of Obregon's wounded in the battle of San Joaquin. In Pancho Villa's train, he was present at Celaya when Villa was defeated by Obregon in 1915. He married Frances McKee of New Orleans on January 16, 1916.
His mother was Louise (Larocque) Tinker (1859-1940). She was decorated twice by the French, once in 1921 for her work on behalf of war orphans through her activities with the organization know as The Fatherless Children of France. The second decoration was presented in 1927 in recognition of her work on behalf of church restoration in France made necessary by war damage. His father was Henry Champlin Tinker, the first president of the Liberty National Bank of New York City and director of several companies including the Fidelity Phoenix Insurance Company. His father, Henry, purchased a summer home sometime before 1891 at Tinker's Point on Long Island. The point, originally the Van Brunt property is at the north end of George's Neck and the village of Poquott includes the entire neck.
He and his wife who died in 1958 collected Latin American art including prints, paintings and artifacts and made donations to various museums including the University of Texas in Austin. The Edward Larocque Tinker Library is located at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin. He incorporated a foundation, the Tinker Foundation, to continue work for similar charitable purposes.
Tinker founded the Tinker National Bank in 1919 with his wife, Frances McGee Tinker, in memory of his father, Henry C. Tinker. He was president and chairman of the board until the mid-1930s when he left the bank. The controlling interest was purchased by Cecil Hall in 1945. The bank in the late 1960s had nine offices and assets of $95 million.
There was no banking place between Port Jefferson and Smithtown. The man who had considerable money to bank had to make the trip to either of these villages, but the poor man with his meager savings did not have the time to make the trip, therefore he kept his money home. Sometimes with money laying about the house, so to speak, people are inclined to spend it foolishly, where if it is banked, they will think the second time before they would draw it out. It was with the thought of assisting these people to practice thrift that Mr. Tinker started the small bank. The building is not an imposing structure, but meets the needs of the community. With the same thought the Tinkers were able to attract a chain store to introduce competition and lower grocery prices in East Setauket. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 25, 1924.
Tinker wrote many books, among them “Toucouton” a 1928 novel about Creole life in New Orleans before the Civil War; “Creole City” a 1953 history of New Orleans during the Civil War; and “The Horsemen of the Americas and the Literature They Inspired" a history of the gaucho, the charro, and the cowboys of Argentina, Mexico and the U.S., published in English in 1953. He also wrote "Lafcadio Hearn's American Days," a biography of the writer who worked 10 years as a journalist in New Orleans. Tinker, who also maintained a home at 550 Park Ave., published his last book “Centaurs of Many Lands” in 1963. He was awarded honorary degrees by Middlebury College and the University of Madrid. Spain made him a Comendador of the Order of Isabela Catolica. In 1933 he wrote a doctoral thesis for the Sorbonne on French language writers in 19th century New Orleans. In 1934 he was awarded the French Academy gold medal and was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor for this work. In 1963 Columbia University conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Between 1937 and 1942, Tinker wrote a weekly column for the New York Times Book Review entitled “New Editions, Fine and Otherwise.” He also lectured in Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay for the U.S. Department of State.
Tinker died Saturday night, July 6, 1968 at his summer home in East Setauket on Birchwood lane. He had been ill for the about three months; a friend of the family said that Tinker had heart trouble. There were no immediate family survivors. Funeral services were held on the 9th at St Bartholomew's Church in New York. Pallbearers included Ward Melville of East Setauket, a shoe industry executive, Gen. Pedro Aramburu, the former president of Argentina, and Dr. Grayson Kirk, the president of Columbia University. Burial followed at the Caroline Church in Setauket.
Bank Officer Summary
During his banking career, Edward L. Tinker was involved with the following bank:
- Tinker National Bank, East Setauket, NY (Charter 11511): President 1920-1927
Sources
- Edward Larocque Tinker on Findagrave.com.
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, Wed., Jan. 9, 1924.
- The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, Tue., Nov. 25, 1924.
- Newsday (Nassau Edition), Hempstead, New York, Mon., July 8, 1968.
- Record-Journal, Meriden, CT, Mon., July 8, 1968.
- Three Village Historical Society, Images of America, The Setaukets, Old Field, and Poquott, (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005).