William Bard

William Bard (April 4, 1778 – October 17, 1853) was a lawyer and pioneer in life insurance who founded the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company.

Early life Bard was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1778. He was the son of cousins, Mary (née Bard) Bard and Samuel Bard, a prominent doctor who was a founder of Columbia University's medical school and physician to George Washington. His younger sister, Eliza, was the wife of John McVickar, the First Rector of St. James Church in Hyde Park and professor at Columbia University.

His paternal grandparents were Suzanne (née Valleau) Bard, a granddaughter and heiress of Pierre Fauconnier, and John Bard, a friend of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin who had invested in Hyde Park, then a 3,600 acre plantation.

William graduated from Columbia College, in 1798 and began the study of law under Judge Maturin Livingston, the former Recorder of New York City. and served as its first president. After his retirement in 1847, he was succeeded by Morris Franklin, who served as president from 1848 until his death in 1885.

Personal life

On October 7, 1802, Bard was married to Catherine Cruger (1781–1868) at Trinity Church in Manhattan. Catherine was the daughter of Ann (née du Nully) Cruger and Nicholas Cruger (brother of Henry Cruger), a slave-trader in St. Croix, West Indies.

Samuel Bard (1803–1883), who died unmarried. son of Nathaniel Prime, in 1827. a grandson of Comfort Sands. Eliza Bard (1813–1902), who married Rufus King Delafield (1802–1874), brother of merchants Richard Delafield and Edward Delafield. William Henry Bard (1815–1834), who died unmarried. John Bard (1819–1899), who founded Bard College with his wife, Margaret Taylor Johnston (1825–1875), daughter of merchant John Johnston and sister of John Taylor Johnston, founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mary Bard (1821–1847), who married Arthur B. Morris.

Bard died on October 17, 1853, at his home on Staten Island. He was buried in the family vault in St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. His widow, Catherine, died on October 14, 1868, also in Staten Island. Their Staten Island estate in the Livingston neighborhood, which was later owned by their daughter Eliza, became the Staten Island Cricket Club.