Richard Aldrich McCurdy

Richard Aldrich McCurdy (January 29, 1835, New York City – March 6, 1916, Morristown, New Jersey) was an American attorney, business executive and banker during the Gilded Age. He served as the President of the Mutual Life Insurance Company from 1885 to 1906, when he retired in the wake of a corporate scandal.

Early life Richard Aldrich McCurdy was born on January 29, 1835, in New York City. His father, Robert Henry McCurdy, was a prominent New York City businessman.

McCurdy received a law degree from the Harvard Law School in 1856.

McCurdy became legal counsel to the Mutual Life Insurance Company from 1860 to 1865. Under his leadership, the Mutual Life Insurance Company Building was built in Manhattan; according to John N. Ingham, "it was at that time the largest office structure in the world." He retired in this midst of the scandal, in 1906.

When the newly formed Mutual Alliance Trust Company opened for business in New York on the Tuesday after June 29, 1902, there were 13 directors, including Emanuel Lehman, William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and McCurdy.

Additionally, McCurdy served as the President of the Bell Telephone Company. Moreover, he served on the board of directors of the United States Mortgage & Trust Company.

Personal life McCurdy married Sarah Ellen Little, daughter of Charles Coffin Little, on 22 October 1856. They resided on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, until they moved to a mansion Morris Plains, New Jersey, followed by another mansion in Morristown, New Jersey.

McCurdy's sister Gertrude married Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first president of the Bell Telephone Company and a founder of the National Geographic Society. McCurdy was thus the uncle of their daughter, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, who married Alexander Graham Bell.

McCurdy was a member of the Metropolitan Club, the Union League Club of New York, the Manhattan Club, the Manhattan Club (social club) and the Lawyer's Club. His photograph, taken by Ira W. Martin in 1890, is in the collection of the Frick Collection on the Upper East Side of New York City.