Franklin MacVeagh

Franklin MacVeagh (November 22, 1837 – July 6, 1934) was an American politician, lawyer, grocer and banker. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President William Howard Taft.

Formative years and family Born on November 22, 1837, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Franklin MacVeagh was a son of Major MacVeagh and the former Margaret Lincoln. His brother, Isaac Wayne MacVeagh, became the U.S. Attorney General under Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.

MacVeagh graduated from Yale University in 1862, where he was a member of Skull and Bones. He then graduated from Columbia Law School in 1864. A Methodist, MacVeagh married Emily Eames in 1868; they had five children.

His Washington, D.C., home at 2829 16th St., NW, was designed and built between 1910 and 1911 by noted architect Nathan C. Wyeth. It is now home to the Mexican Cultural Institute of the Embassy of Mexico.

He also owned a large summer estate in Dublin, New Hampshire (now listed on the National Register of Historic Places) known as Knollwood.

Death and interment Franklin MacVeagh died in Chicago, Illinois, on July 6, 1934, at age 96, and was interred in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

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