W. Butler Duncan

William Butler Duncan (17 March 1830 – 12 June 1912) was a Scottish-American banker and railroad executive.

Early life Duncan was born in Edinburgh on 17 March 1830, a son of Sarah (née Butler) Duncan (1806–1888) and Alexander Duncan (1805–1889) of Parkhill Arbroath, Scotland, who married in 1827.

Among his siblings were Jessie Scott Duncan, Samuel Butler Duncan and Mary Cryder Duncan, who all died young; David Duncan (who married Fanny Bloodgood); Adele Granger Duncan (who married Robert Hamilton Stubber of Moyne, Ireland); Alexander Lauderdale Duncan of Knossington Grange, Leicestershire, England (who married Louisa Elizabeth Hunt); and Sally Duncan (who married Sir Robert Hay, 8th Baronet of Smithfield and Haystoun). His father came to America as a young man and graduated from Yale University in 1827.

The younger Duncan was a leader in American yacht racing and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1882. he served on the USS Yankee in the Spanish–American War.

Duncan was educated in Edinburgh and at Brown University. Banker J.P. Morgan apprenticed at the firm before establishing his own firm in New York.

From 1874 until 1888, he served as president of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. When the railroad was acquired by the Southern Railroad Company in 1901, he became chairman of its board of directors, serving until his death in 1912.

Personal life On 22 November 1853, Duncan married Jane Percy Sargent (1833–1905) in New Orleans. Jane was the daughter of George Washington Sargent and Margaret Isabella Jessie (née Percy) Sargent and the granddaughter of Winthrop Sargent, the Governor of Mississippi Territory and Secretary of Northwest Territory. Together, they lived at 1 Fifth Avenue in New York City and were the parents of:

From 1858 to 1896, the Duncan family maintained a residence on Grymes Hill, Staten Island, in the former home of the neighborhood's namesake, Suzette Grymes.

At his mansion on Fifth Avenue, Duncan entertained the Prince of Wales in 1860 (before he became King Edward VII), and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught in 1868.

His wife died at their home on 11 December 1905.