Alexander Lafayette Chew

Alexander Lafayette Chew (October 4, 1824 – November 19, 1911) was an American banker.

Early life Chew was born on October 4, 1824, in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father served as collector of the port of New Orleans. He was one of six children of Beverly Chew (1773–1851) and Maria Theodora ( Duer) Chew (1789–1837). Three of his siblings married into the Kennedy family of Louisiana and his eldest sister, Lucy Ann Chew, married their cousin, U.S. Representative William Duer. During the Marquis de Lafayette's 1824 visit to the United States, his father hosted the French statesman at their New Orleans home. Young Alexander was born shortly thereafter and Lafayette became godfather of the boy, giving the family an "ornate silver teapot inscribed with the infant's name." Among his Duer relatives were uncles William Alexander Duer and John Duer, both prominent Judges. His mother was also a cousin to Edward Livingston, the United States Senator from Louisiana.

He attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York, beginning in 1840. Shortly after he became president, First National built their headquarters on the southeast corner of Seneca and Exchange Streets in Geneva. Chew served as its president until his death in 1911. The bank was reorganized as the Geneva Trust Company in 1919.

Chew also served as a trustee of Hobart College for forty-two years and a vestryman and warden of Trinity Church in Geneva. Sarah's sister, Harriet Prouty, was the wife of New York State Comptroller Thomas Hillhouse and her brother was Phineas Prouty. Together, they were the parents of: a banker and well-known book collector who married Clarissa Tainter Pierson, a daughter of the Rev. Job Pierson and granddaughter of U.S. Representative Job Pierson, in 1872. Thomas Hillhouse Chew (1856–1932), who never married. cashier of the International Pump Co.

Chew died in Geneva on November 19, 1911. His second son Thomas succeeded him as president of the First National Bank of Geneva and served as president until his own death in 1932.

Descendants Through his youngest daughter Lillian, he was a grandfather of composer Alexander Lafayette Chew Wilder (better known as Alec Wilder).