Benjamin Nathan

Benjamin Nathan (December 20, 1813 – July 28, 1870) was an American investor and philanthropist. He was bludgeoned to death in his home in 1870, and the notorious murder case remains unsolved despite several trials in the years following his death.[1]

Life and career

He was elected a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1836, became its vice-president in 1851. He served as a director of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and the Ninth Avenue Street Railway. He also served on the first Board of Directors for Jews' Hospital. He was also President of Shearith Israel.

In 1849 he we promoted to colonel and named aide-de-camp to New York State Governor Hamilton Fish.[2] Supreme Court Judge Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, his nephew, was born the year Nathan died and was named after him. Nathan's wife Emily G. Nathan died in 1879.[3] They had seven children, including Frederick Nathan and Washington Nathan.[4]

Studies in Murder, a 1924 true crime novel by Edmund Pearson, is about the murder.

References

  1. ^ Staff report (July 30, 1870). HORRIBLE MURDER. Benjamin Nathan, the Broker, Assassinated in His Own House. New York Times
  2. ^ Adler, Cyrus (1912). The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Funk and Wagnalls
  3. ^ Staff report (Jan 21, 1879) MRS. NATHAN'S DEATH. Recalling a Murder Whose Mystery Has Not Been Fathomed. Chicago Daily Tribune
  4. ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (January 13, 2010). A Death in the Family. Tablet

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