William Alexander Julian (Bethel, OH)

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William Alexander Julian
Harris & Ewing, photographer. See season's opener, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1938. Precedence and politics were off their mind today as the nation's lawmakers, government officials, and diplomats attended today's opening game of the baseball season between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. Here we see, left to right: J.J. Pelley, President of the Association of American Railroads; Japanese Ambassador Saito, Senator Frederick Hale, of Maine; and, holding the umbrella, William Julian, U.S. Treasurer, 4/18/38. Washington D.C. District of Columbia Washington D.C. United States, 1938. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress

William Alexander Julian (August 7, 1861 – May 29, 1949)

Biography

  • Name: William Alexander Julian
  • Birth: August 7, 1861 Franklin County, Kentucky[1]
  • Death: May 29, 1949 Bethesda, Maryland (Buried Ironton, Ohio)
  • 28th Treasurer of the United States from June 1, 1933 to May 29, 1949, selected by FDR

Early life and family

Born on a farm near Frankfort, Kentucky, William Alexander Julian's early jobs were as a bank clerk and shoe salesman. He rose to become a shoe manufacturer, president of the Queen City Trust Company of Cincinnati and a director of other banks. A lifelong Democrat and one-time national committeeman, he dodged various offers of appointment to public office. Then Franklin D. Roosevelt persuaded him to come to Washington to overhaul the nation's fiscal system in mid Depression.[2] In 1882 he went into the shoe business in Cincinnati with Stribley & Co. In 1890 he entered into a partnership, forming the firm of Alter & Julian, shoe manufacturers which later merged into the Julian & Kokenge Co. On Wednesday morning, September 18, 1895, Miss Gertrude Means was married to W. Alexander Julian of Cincinnati in the Presbyterian Church at Yellow Springs by the pastor, Rev. B.D. Luther.[3] Miss Means was the oldest daughter of the former mayor of Cincinnati and former bank president William Means.[4]

Banking career

Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company ad
A 1905 advertisement for the opening of the Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company.[2]
William Alexander Julian
Photo of William Alexander Julian.[5]

In March 1880, Mr. William A. Julian of Frankfort was with the house of J. & A. Simpkinson, boot and shoe dealers at Cincinnati. Before leaving Frankfort, he was employed for general work in the Farmers' Bank where he was esteemed for his efficiency and solid worth.[6]

The Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company opened on July 17, 1905, at the southwest corner of Fifth and Vine Streets, Cincinnati, with a capital stock of $500,000 and a surplus of $100,000. Mr. W.A. Julian of the Julian & Kokenge Co., one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the city, was president. M.M Robertson was vice president, and Ernst Von Bargen, secretary.[7] Principal stockholders, all young men, prominent in city affairs were W.A. Julian, Abram E. Cohen, Gabe Straus, Arnold Mann, Otto Armieder, Edwards Ritchie, William Lodge, Jeff Livingston, Edward J. Busse, and M.H. Block.[8]

In July 1908, W.A. Julian, president of the Cincinnati Shoe Company, sold his interest to Walter J. Wichgar and Paul Pathe. Julian owned $50,000 of the $85,000 capital stock. The office of the Cincinnati Shoe Company was in Cincinnati, but the plant was located at Bethel, Ohio, just to the east. The plant had a capacity of 1,500 pairs daily. Julian was president and treasurer, Wichgar vice president, and P.A. Pathe secretary. P.A. Pathe became president and treasurer and Wichgar vice president and Paul Pathe, Jr., secretary. In addition to disposing of his interest in the Cincinnati Shoe Company, Julian also sold his holdings in the Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company of which he was the first president. In the future he would devote his time to the Julian and Kokenge Co. of which he was also the president. The reason for selling was to prepare for a tour of the world in the fall. He planned to meet Harry Andrews in Yokahama, Japan, where he was located in business, and would would accompany Julian in a leisure trip through the Straits Settlement and India. Andrews was a Cincinnati man, son of a former wholesale grocer there.[9] 

In 1910, the Provident Savings Bank and Trust Company, in business since 1900, acquired the Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company.[10]

In January 1926, W.A. Julian was elected a director of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks National Bank. The election took place at a dinner given for the board of directors at the Business Men's Club by Joseph J. Castellini, president of the bank, and was to fill a vacancy on the board. Mr. Castellini disclosed the fact that Mr. Julian's nomination had the approval of the Federal Reserve Board. The consent of this body had to be obtained because Mr. Julian already was vice president and a director of the Citizens National Bank. As chairman of the board of the Julian & Kokenge Co., shoe manufacturers, and in his former capacity as president, he always had shown himself friendly to organized labor.[11]

On December 28, 1926, directors of the Citizens National Bank and Trust Company and of the Fourth and Central Trust Company approved a plan to merge the two Cincinnati institutions. W.A. Julian, vice president of the Citizens, declined to serve as vice president in the new organization.[12] Julian, however, would take his place on the directorate of the new Central Trust Company, the name of the new institution after the merger. He remained chairman of the Julian & Kokenge Company.[13]

Other career highlights

The Sinton-St. Nicholas Hotel of Cincinnati
A 1931 advertisement for the Sinton-St. Nicholas Hotel of Cincinnati. Officers and directors as well as the history was given in the ad. W.A. Julian was vice president.[14]
W.A. Julian swearing in as Treasurer of the United States
W.A. Julian was sworn in as Treasurer of the United States with Frank A. Birgfeld, chief clerk of the Treasury Department administering the oath.[15]

A New Year's Day 1900 Gift. As the result of a game of billiards between Donald Macdonald, the wholesale coal dealer, and W.A. Julian, the shoe manufacturer, the Associated Charities received a handsome New Year's gift in the guise of 100 tons of coal and 100 pairs of shoes. Macdonald beat Julian in a friendly game with the cue at the Queen City Club a few evenings ago and at the conclusion, Julian remarked that Macdonald was a lucky man at most anything he turned his hand to. "We're both lucky, I supposed," replied Macdonald. "Suppose, just to celebrate it, we make a little New Year's donation." It ended in the coal and shoes being delivered New Year's Day. The value of the two gifts was about $600.[16]

On Wednesday, April 10, 1907, it was learned on good authority in banking circles that W. A. Julian, President of the Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company, had tendered his resignation as President of that bank. The resignation, so it was said, had been in the hands of the Board of Directors for several weeks, and it would be acted upon at the next regular meeting of the board, to be held on Tuesday. Mr. Julian's retirement, was due to his inability to give the bank enough of his active attention. He was the head of a half dozen corporations, including the Julian & Kokenge Shoe Company, the Cincinnati Shoe Company and the First National Bank of Bethel, Ohio. In addition to these interests he was now devoting the bulk of his attention to supervising the plans for the construction of a new factory building for the Julian & Kokenge Company at Fourth and Lawrence streets. He had been President of the bank since its organization in July, 1903. When seen last night and asked regarding the resignation. he said: "I have nothing to say, but there might be some news for you after the meeting of the Directors of the bank next Tuesday. The Queen City Bank has prospered beyond our fondest hopes, and is destined to be one of the leading banking institutions of the city. As to that report of my resignation, if it were true, I wouldn't tell the reporters. The Directors meet next Tuesday, and if you come around after that meeting and there is any news, I am sure you will get it. I will say to you, however, that the press of personal business is becoming a strain on me as I am actively interested in a half dozen corporations, in addition to building a new factory for one of my companies." M.M. Robertson, Vice President of the bank, when seen that night, said: "There is nothing positive in the report. Mr. Julian was still President of the Queen City Savings Bank and Trust Company, and when there is any change made in the official family at the bank we will give due notice."[17]

In July 1921, interesting observations on the subject of taxation were made in Washington by William A. Julian, Cincinnati shoe manufacturer and the Democratic nominee for the United States senatorship in Ohio last year. Mr. Julian was making arrangements for passports for himself and Mrs. Julian for a two-month's tour of England and France. Mr. Julian called upon Senator Atlee Pomerene and Representative Nicholas Longworth during his visit here, discussing at length the subject of taxation. Mr. Longworth was the author of a bill to revise the revenue system by eliminating a number of the most burdensome taxes, which was expected to be the basis upon which the House Ways and Means Committee would work in revising the revenue laws during the next few weeks. A table recently prepared for Mr. Julian, to which he called attention, showed that in Ohio the amount paid for taxes for all purposes, Federal, state, county and municipal, was equivalent to between 40 and 50 per cent of the income of all persons residing within the state. This, he argued, should be taken into consideration by the men who have charge of the levying of taxes as a continuance of present conditions would breed dissatisfaction and unrest among all classes of persons. The farmers, Mr. Julian said, were burdened heavily by the present taxes. All Ohio farmers, he said, were taxed at valuations out of all proportion to their earning capacity under existing conditions. There was no market for livestock, he explained, and the prices of wheat and corn were so low that nothing but bankruptcy would remain for the farmers unless they were relieved of part of the burden they were carrying. Attention was called to Department of Commerce statistics which showed that the percentage of mortgaged farms in the United States had increased for Ohio was from 28.9 to more than 41 per cent in 1920. The increase for Ohio was from 28.9 per cent in 1910 to 31.6 per cent in 1920. The number of farms in Ohio operated by their owners had decreased from 192,104 in 1910 to 177,986 in 1920.[18]

Democratic National Committeeman from Ohio: 1926...1928[19][20]

In January 1929, W.A. Julian was re-elected as a director of the Cincinnati Realty Company which operated the Hotel Sinton.[21] He was also president of the Associated Charities.[22] 

In February 1943, it was reported that the first piece of currency ever signed by W.A. Julian, treasurer of the United States, was a bank note issued by the First National Bank of Bethel. The note was in the possession of O.L. Page, president of the bank and was signed by Julian when he served as bank president from 1900 to 1913.[23]

In January 1948, the only definite Democratic candidate for the presidency to date was William A. Julian, U.S. Treasurer, who was selected last week by the Ohio Democratic organization as its "favorite son" choice. Julian, in his official capacity, signed his name to all paper currency from a dollar bill up. Buckeye Democrats had to pick a "favorite son" because President Truman had not yet announced he would be a candidate, although, it was taken for granted that he'd be the party's nominee. State law provided that national convention delegates could not be elected unless they were pledged to a specific candidate. As a result, Julian's name would be placed in nomination at the Philadelphia convention next July and Ohio's 50 votes would be cast for him on first ballot. After the first round, delegates would have complied with Ohio law and were at liberty to switch their allegiance, undoubtedly to Truman. The Democrats' choice of Julian, paid tribute to a veteran party war horse in the state, a delegate to all national conventions since 1912, an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1920 and reputedly one of the "angels" of the state organization.

Julian, born on a farm near Frankfort, Kentucky, retired more than two decades ago with a comfortable fortune. He still maintained legal residence in Cincinnati. As U.S. Treasurer, his job should be differentiated from that of Secretary of the Treasury held by John W. Snyder, a cabinet officer and policy maker with over-all direction of Julian's department, as well as such divisions as the Coast Guard, Secret Service, Internal Revenue and the Mint. The U.S. Treasurer, along with getting his name on the lower left hand corner of paper money, served as a general bookkeeper for the government. He received, disbursed and accounted for all public money. He had custody of, and issued and redeemed all currency and coin. He made payments on the public debt and issued government checks. Among other duties, Julian was president of the board of trustees of the Postal Savings System, issued daily statements on the condition of the Treasury and was custodian of miscellaneous securities and trust funds. Julian told a reporter he was "pleased with the compliment" paid him by the state organization. He lived alone at a small farm in Maryland outside of Washington. His wife, Gertrude, daughter of a former Cincinnati mayor, lived at their home in suburban Cincinnati. Julian also owned a 1,000-acre wheat farm near Sabina in Clinton County, Ohio. Recently he gave 14,000 bushels of wheat from this farm to the Society of Friends for distribution in Europe in cereal form. Always strongly in favor of old age pensions, Julian served in 1915-18, as chairman of a board appointed by former Gov. James. M. Cox of Ohio to study a state pension system. This board was reputed to have been the first in the nation to look into pensions for the aged. Although the study was interrupted by World War I, Julian proud of the fact that the board's secretary, Arthur J. Altmeyer, now was commissioner of the Federal Social Security Administration. Julian left his bank clerk job shortly after coming to Cincinnati to become a shoe salesman and then a manufacturer on his own account. He still held a financial interest in the Julian and Kokenge firm which he helped found and which now was operating in Columbus, Ohio. Still later he organized and became president of the Queen City Trust Co. in Cincinnati. Other banking connections included the president of the First National Bank in Bethel, Ohio, and vice-president of the Citizens National in Cincinnati. He was named to his Treasury post by President Roosevelt in 1933, after reportedly turning down an ambassadorship. He was a trustee of Berea College in Kentucky for 40 years and was general chairman of Associated Charities in Cincinnati for 25 years. He was Democratic national committeeman for 12 years until he came to Washington.[24]

Later life and death

On Sunday, May 29, 1949, W.A. Julian, treasurer of the United States since the earliest days of the Roosevelt New Deal administration was killed in a head-on automobile crash near Bethesda, Maryland. The occupants of the other car, William Ellis and Paul Smith of nearby Maryland communities were only slightly hurt. No charges were filed in the accident. Julian's death brought to light a secret carefully guarded by the retired and wealthy former banker--his age. A driver's license showed it to be 78. Friends though him to be older. His wife, Gertrude Means Julian, daughter of a former mayor of Cincinnati, died last March 26th at the age of 80. They were childless. The Montgomery County medical examiner, Dr. Frank J. Broschart, said he understood Julian had planned to play golf and was driving from his home to the Burning Tree Country Club. The accident occurred as Julian, driving alone, attempted to make a left turn as he neared the brow of a hill about three miles from his home at Red Gables,[25] Rockville, Maryland. Julian escaped death 10 years earlier on the same road. In a collision on January 6, 1939, his car careened into a hill 300 feet from the scene and turned over. Julian received cuts and chest bruises in this accident.[26]

A treasury spokesman said Julian issued $87 billion worth of currency in the hard-spending years of FDR's administration, several times as much as any other treasurer. The office of treasurer of the United States, not to be confused with the secretary of the treasury, a cabinet post, was essentially a banking facility for the Government. Duties included the receipt, disbursement and accounting for public moneys; the custody, issuance and redemption of paper currency and coin; the safekeeping of securities; and the payment of principal and interest on the public debt. The treasurer received $10,330 a year.[2]

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, W. A. Julian was involved with the following banks:

$5 Series 1882 Brown Back bank note
$5 Series 1882 Brown Back bank note from the First National Bank of Bethel, Ohio, with pen signatures of E.J. Fagley, Cashier and William A. Julian, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
Series of 1934 Specimen $10,000 Gold Certificate
Series of 1934 Specimen $10,000 Gold Certificate with signature of William A. Julian, U.S. Treasurer and Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com


Sources

  1. ↑ The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, Sat., Aug. 7, 1920.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., July 13, 1905.
  3. ↑ The Dayton Herald, Dayton, OH, Thu., Sep. 19, 1895.
  4. ↑ The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, Sat., Aug. 7, 1920.
  5. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., July 13, 1905.
  6. ↑ Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, Frankfort, KY, Mon., Mar. 15, 1880.
  7. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., July 13, 1905.
  8. ↑ The American Israelite, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., July 13, 1905.
  9. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu. July 9, 1908.
  10. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Mon., Jan. 3, 1938.
  11. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Sun., Jan. 10, 1926.
  12. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Wed., Dec. 29, 1926.
  13. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Sun., Jan. 30, 1927.
  14. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Tue., Jan. 13, 1931.
  15. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Tue., Jan. 13, 1931.
  16. ↑ The Cincinnati Post, Cincinnati, OH, Tue., Jan. 2, 1900.
  17. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., Apr. 11, 1907.
  18. ↑ The Winchester Sun, Winchester, KY, Tue., July 26, 1921.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Sun., Jan. 10, 1926.
  20. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Thu., Jan. 12, 1928.
  21. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Tue., Jan. 15, 1929.
  22. ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Fri., Apr. 12, 1929.
  23. ↑ Chillicothe Gazette, Chillicothe, OH, Mon., Feb 1, 1943.
  24. ↑ Springfield News-Sun, Springfield, OH, Thu., Jan. 15, 1948.
  25. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Mon., May 30, 1949.
  26. ↑ The Miami News, Miami, FL, Mon., Jan. 9, 1939.
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