Lewis G. Harriman

Buffalo bankers before the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Left to right: Perry E. Wurst, Executive Vice-President of the Manufactures & Traders Trust Co.; Lewis G. Harriman, Pres. of the M.& T. Trust Co.; and Frank C. Trubee, Jr., President of the Manufactures and Traders Securities Corp. Lewis Gildersleeve Harriman (March 24, 1889 – January 7, 1973) was an American banker.

Early life Harriman was born in Windsor, Connecticut on March 24, 1889. He was a son of the Rev. Frederick William Harriman (1852–1931) and Cora Elizabeth ( Jarvis) Harriman (1854–1932).

His paternal grandparents were Frederick D. Harriman and Mary ( Bostwick) Harriman. In 1961, Delmer F. Hubbell Jr. succeeded Harriman as President of M&T Discount Corporation, its principal dealer in bankers' acceptances in New York City. Harriman then became chairman of the board. He served as president of the parent company, M&T Bank, from 1925 to 1954, after which he became chairman of the board. In 1964, Charles W. Millard succeeded Harriman as chairman of M&T and became honorary chairman. In 1943, he was elected to the board of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company. In 1945, he was elected to the board of the Sterling Engine Company. In 1951, he was appointed a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Buffalo Branch succeeding George G. Kleindinst of the Liberty Bank of Buffalo.

Personal life On June 24, 1915, Harriman was married to Grace Bastine. Before their divorce in 1939, they were the parents of five children: Lewis Gildersleeve Harriman Jr, Wiliam Bradford Harriman, John Howland Harriman (1920–2012), Thomas Harriman, and Elizabeth Harriman (b. 1923), who married Charles Palmer Bean, son of Barton A. Bean Jr., in 1947.

After his divorce, he married Louise Ely (1899–1975) on October 11, 1939.