George F(isher) Baker

Banker and philanthropist, born in Dorchester (now part of Boston), Massachusetts, USA. He began as a clerk in the state banking department in Albany, NY (1856), and in 1863 helped found the First National Bank of New York, rising to second president by 1877. In 1908 he established First Security Corp to buy and sell stocks, bonds, and notes. During 1909–31 he chaired the bank's board and was on the board of directors of 87 corporations. He gave away over $19 million of his personal fortune, including $6 million to the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Beside that, he made several large donations to charitable causes throughout New York City and funded the construction of Baker Field, Columbia University's primary athletic facility. He also provided $2 million for Baker Library at Dartmouth College, which has since become one of the school's symbols. A co-founder of the First National Bank of New York in 1863, he became the Bank's President in 1877 and Chairman of the Board in 1909. Mr. Baker's 20,000 shares in the First National Bank were worth twenty million dollars.

Baker, born in Troy, New York, was the son of George Ellis Baker and Eveline Stevens. He married Florence Tucker Baker (daughter of Benjamin Franklin Baker and Sophronia J. Whitney) in 1869, and was the father of:

Evelyn Baker (1870-1936) m. 1891 Howard Bligh St. George Florence Bellows Baker (1876-1936) m. William Goadby Loew George Fisher Baker, Jr.