Morris Ketchum Jesup (June 21, 1830 – January 22, 1908) was an American banker and philanthropist. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History and was known as a leading patron of scientific research and an eminent art collector, particularly towards his support for Frederic Edwin Church.

Early life

Morris Jesup was born at Westport, Connecticut in 1830, the son of Charles Jesup and Abigail Sherwood. He was descended from Edward Jessup of the Stamford, New Haven Colony, an early settler in Middleburg, Long Island, now Elmhurst, Queens. Edward later became owner of a large estate in what is now Hunts Point, Bronx.

Jesup contributed to educational institutions. His contributions to Tuskegee Institute enabled George Washington Carver to develop a mobile educational station that he took to farmers. Jesup was treasurer of the John F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen at its beginning. He served as a member of the Peabody Educational Board and of the General Education Board. He gave $51,000 to the Yale Divinity School; to Yale University, he gave the Landbery Arabic manuscripts, for which he had paid $20,000. Williams College received $35,000. He presented Jesup Hall to the Union Theological Seminary.

In 1881, he was appointed president of the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City, to which he gave large sums in his lifetime and bequeathed $1,000,000. In 1883 he became chairman of the newly formed Forestry Committee of the New York Chamber of Commerce, tasked with "saving the woods and waters of the State [i.e.New York]," an early step in a process that eventually led to the creation of New York State's Adirondack Park in 1894. New York City business interests at the time were fearful that deforestation of the Adirondacks would ruin the Hudson River waterways upon which their business was dependent. The Forestry Committee pressured the state legislature to purchase lands in the Adirondack forest, and proposed a model bill. The legislature did not authorize the purchase of lands, but set aside about 700,000 acres of state holdings from future sale. In 1885, Governor Hill signed a new bill into law creating a "Forest Preserve" in the Adirondacks, however, cutting rights were soon being sold to private companies and individuals, and even to the lumberman on the newly created state Forest Commission. In response, in 1890, as president of the New York State Forestry Association, Jesup's group was one of many to propose new bills whose purpose was to create an Adirondack park. Downriver businessmen did not want any lumbering activities in the proposed park area. In 1892, Governor Flower signed the Adirondack Park Enabling Act, creating a state park, but left the issue of timber-cutting ambiguous. The state's constitutional convention in 1894, an amendment to fully protect the trees of the park was unanimously approved by a vote of 122 to 0. It went into full effect in 1895.

Jesup also served as trustee for the Syrian Protestant College (American University of Beirut) from 1884 to 1892, and board chair from 1893 to 1908. He also built "Post Hall", which is home to the university's Archaeological Museum and Geology Department.

Jesup was president of the New York Chamber of Commerce from 1899 until 1907, and was the largest subscriber to its new building.

Jesup was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia along with J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller among others.

To his native town he donated funds to construct the Westport Public Library.

Personal life

In 1854, Morris married Maria van Antwerp DeWitt (1834–1914). Maria was a daughter of Rev. Thomas DeWitt Jr., who was the pastor of the Collegiate Dutch Church in New York City for forty years. Her sister, Mary Elizabeth DeWitt, was the wife of Theodore Cuyler, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and mother to Thomas DeWitt Cuyler among others.

Jesup died on January 22, 1908, aged 77, at 107 Madison Avenue, his home in New York City and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Legacy and honors

  • 1905, he was knighted by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia for his philanthropic work aiding immigrants from the Russian Empire.
  • Columbia University's Jesup Lectureship is named after him.
  • The Morris K. Jesup Psychological Laboratory on Vanderbilt University's Peabody campus was named for him and was the first building of its kind in the world;
  • Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of mainland Greenland, as well as Morris Jesup Glacier, were named in his honor.
  • The American Museum of Natural History's hall of Northwest Coast Indians is named after him.
  • The town of Jesup, Iowa is named for him.
  • Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, Maine is named after Jesup, who was a longtime resident of the area. Shortly after his death, Jesup's wife funded the library's initial endowment in his memory.
  • Jesup Trail at Acadia National Park is named after Jesup and his wife.

See also

  • Westport Public Library

Notes

References

;Attribution

  • Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History - Objects and Photographs from Jesup North Pacific Expedition 1897-1902 (section Collections Online, option Collections Highlights).
  • Archives of the Peary Arctic Club - Correspondences between Morris Ketchum Jesup and Robert E. Peary