George Howard Earle Jr. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George Howard Earle Jr.
Born	George Hussey Earle Jr. (1856-07-06)July 6, 1856 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	February 19, 1928(1928-02-19) (aged 71) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation	Lawyer Businessman
Relatives	George Hussey Earle Sr. (father) Florence Van Leer Earle Coates (sister) Thomas Earle (grandfather) Samuel Van Leer (great great grandfather) Anthony Wayne (great-uncle)
Signature

George H. Earle Jr. (born July 6, 1856 – died February 19, 1928) was a lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was known as a "financial diplomat" because he was often asked to help companies that were having serious money problems. He was very good at saving them from going out of business.

Biography

George H. Earle Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Thomas Earle, was a famous person who worked to end slavery. His great-great-grandfather, Samuel Van Leer, was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. George Jr.'s father, George H. Earle Sr., was also a lawyer in Philadelphia.

After graduating from Harvard University in 1879, George Jr. became a lawyer, just like his father and grandfather. He worked at a law firm called Earle & White. However, he soon found that he was more interested in using his legal skills to fix struggling businesses. He became known as a "business doctor" because he helped many companies that were almost bankrupt. He was often appointed as a "receiver" (someone who manages a company's money when it's in trouble) and "reorganizer" (someone who helps restructure a company to make it healthy again).

He became the president or director of almost two dozen companies in Philadelphia. George Jr. married Catharine H. French on December 12, 1881. They had ten children together, including George Howard Earle III, who later became the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939.

George Earle Jr. and his father were part of a group called the Committee of One Hundred in Philadelphia. This group wanted to improve government and stop "bossism politics," which is when a small group of powerful people control everything. The committee was made up of Republicans who wanted to reform their own party. Even though the committee didn't have a lasting impact, George Earle Jr. continued to speak out for good government and for protecting political liberty for all Americans.

In 1896, George Earle Jr. encouraged people to vote for William McKinley instead of William Jennings Bryan. He warned against leaders who try to divide people into different groups and turn them against each other. He believed this went against the ideas of Abraham Lincoln.

He also worried about "populism," which is a political idea where leaders try to appeal to the common person by saying they are fighting against the "elite." In a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker in 1906, Earle Jr. wrote that he feared President Theodore Roosevelt might be giving in to populist ideas instead of sticking to important principles. He believed that the Republican party should stand firm on its values, even if it meant being unpopular.

After the Panic of 1907, a time of financial crisis, Earle Jr. spoke out against creating a central bank. He believed that too much power in one place could be dangerous for liberty. He thought that solutions should come from everyone, not just a few powerful people.

In a 1910 article, George Earle Jr. was described as a "doctor to ailing corporations." The article also mentioned his surprising views on wealth and property. He had lakes on his estate, "Broadacres," and allowed anyone to use them. He said, "I have always had a profound sympathy for the man who from the day of his birth has had no foot of land that he could call his own. The least I can do is to give every one free use of mine." This was seen as unusual for a wealthy businessman. He often spoke about "liberty," meaning the freedom that early American leaders like Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin believed in.

George H. Earle Jr. running for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1911.

Even though he had never sought political office before, George Earle Jr. was chosen by U.S. Senator Boies Penrose to run for mayor of Philadelphia in 1911. He won the Republican primary election but lost the main election to Rudolph Blankenburg.

A month after his mayoral campaign, Earle Jr. spoke to the United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. He shared his ideas on how to improve the Sherman Antitrust Act, a law designed to prevent monopolies and promote fair competition. He believed the law was already very good and only needed small changes to make it stronger. He argued that governments that tried to encourage monopolies often ended up promoting socialism.

In 1918, George Earle Jr. was president of the Real Estate Trust Company in Philadelphia. He led a meeting of state banking associations. Some people thought the goal was to stop state banks from joining the Federal Reserve system. However, Earle Jr. said that state banks serve local needs, and it was important for them to have their own group to discuss issues and work together. He believed in "free discussion and the fullest cooperation."

The Earle Theatre, named after George H. Earle Jr., opened in Philadelphia on March 24, 1924. It was a popular place to see famous performers until it closed in 1953.

George H. Earle Jr. passed away on February 19, 1928, after being ill for about a year. He is buried in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, alongside many family members, including his son, former Governor George H. Earle III. His sister, the poet Florence Van Leer Earle Coates, is also buried nearby.

Six years after his death, George H. Earle III ran for Governor of Pennsylvania as a Democrat. Interestingly, his mother, Mrs. George H. Earle Jr., registered as a Republican that year, saying she had "always been a Republican." However, she still supported her son at a Democratic rally. George Earle III won the governorship, becoming the first Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania since 1891. He later said he "rode into office on the coat-tails of President Franklin D. Roosevelt." George Jr.'s grandson, Ralph Earle II, became a U.S. Ambassador and a key negotiator in talks about nuclear disarmament.

List of works

• The Liberty to Trade as Buttressed by National Law (1909)
• Plan of Bill Proposed by Hon. George H. Earle Jr., Philadelphia. Proposed amendment/revision to Sherman Antitrust law (1911)
• Catalogue of the magnificent collection of ancient Greek and Roman, European, Oriental, early American and United States coins of George H. Earle Jr., Esq., Philadelphia (1912)
• Does Price Fixing Destroy Liberty? A consideration of certain economic and common law principles applying to governmental interferences with the liberty of trade. (1920)
• Is Capital Income? Does the power of taxation to destroy extend to the destruction of constitutional guarantees? (1921)

Articles

• A Central Bank as a Menace to Liberty (1908)
• Half a Slap and Half a Boost (1912)

Letters

• Letter to Samuel W. Pennypacker from George H. Earle Jr., May 16, 1906

Court testimony

• Testimony of George H. Earle Jr. (7 Feb 1891) Seventh meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee to investigate the cause of the failures of state and private banks.
• "Testimony of Mr. George H. Earle Jr." (28–29 June 1911) Hearings Held Before the Special Committee on the Investigation of the American Sugar Refining Co. and Others. Vol. 2, p. 1217-1272. House of Representatives: Washington Government Printing Office (1911)
• "Statement of George H. Earle Jr., Real Estate Trust Co., Broad and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA." (6 December 1911) Hearing Before the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, Sixty-Second Congress, Pursuant to S. Res. 98: A resolution directing the Committee on Interstate Commerce to investigate and report desirable changes in the laws regulating and controlling corporations, persons, and firms engaged in interstate commerce. (1912) Vol. I, p. 770-810.

Works about George H. Earle Jr.

• George H. Earle Jr., Doctor to Ailing Corporations by John Kimberly Mumford. (Munsey's Magazine, February 1910)
• The Wizardry of George H. Earle Jr. (Current Literature, November 1911)
• "Shows Monopoly to Have Been a Menace for Centuries: George H. Earle Jr., Noted Philadelphia Business Man, Tells Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce Sherman Law Should be Strengthened—Cites History to Prove Continual Fight Against, and Evils of, Monopoly—How to Amend the Law." (Telephony, 3 February 1912)

Appointments and assignments

Mr. Earle derives from his Quaker ancestry the breadth of view that recognizes no monopoly of integrity or weakness in any [religious] denomination, and that business ability and character are more valuable [to a financial corporation], because less easily pretended, than piety.

Notable ancestors and descendants

• Pliny Earle I, inventor (Great-grandfather)

• Thomas Earle, abolitionist, lawyer, philanthropist (Grandfather)

• George H. Earle Sr., Philadelphia lawyer (Father)

• Florence Earle Coates, poet (Sister)

• George Howard Earle III, former Pennsylvania Governor (Son)

• Ralph Earle II, U. S. Ambassador (Grandson)

• Samuel Van Leer, Army Officer and entrepreneur (great-great-grandfather)