The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-03-05
RecOllectiOns of
 Old Trust Company
By HOLLAND


 New York, March 4-(Special )-Fol- lowing speedily upon the consolidation of the Irving Trust company with the Market & Fulton bank comes the an- nouncement that the Central Trust com pany and the Union Trust company are speedily to be consolidated and when this is done the unified institution will be fourth upon the list of the largest trust companies in the world and will be able to say that there are deposited with it nearly $260, COX, 900.
 This consolidation inevitably causes in- teresting recollections to be revived as sociated with the days when Edward King was president of the Union Trust and Frederick Olcott bore the same re- lation to the Central Trust. For years these two men were central figures in New York banking life. They were es- teemed worthy of the reputation they gained as ranking well with the ablest bankers of the United States. In per- sonality and in some of their methods Of conducting the trust company busl' ness the two men were widely apart. One of them MT. King, was always a banker He was a member of the King family which was prominently identified not only with the growth of New York city, but also of the state, one of whose members was governor of New York and another United States senator.
 MT. Olcott in his early manhood at his home at Albany, demonstrated such a high order of political ability as, had he been disposed to make politics his vocation. would have surely brought him to pre-eminence as leader in the dem ocratic party in New York state. When young man he was elected comptroller of the state and his services in that of flee was favorably compared with that performed by Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, William L. Marcy and Willard Fillmore. Two of these men began their political careers in that service after wards became president of the United States, Van Buren and Fillmore.
 There came moment in the early eighty's when those who were direct ing the fortunes of the democratic party in New York were casting about with intent to discover the man who would be regarded as the most available can didate for governor. They fixed at last upon Frederick P. Olcott and when he was informed of this purpose he stood contemplatingly upon the one hand an invitation which he had just received to become president of the Central Trust company of New York city and on the other hand seriously considering whether t date for the demoeratic nomination for governor, knowing that his nomination and election were certain. At last he accepted the banking invitation. Had he been named by democracy as it's candi- date for governor he undoubtedly would have been elected by phenomenal ma jority and in all probability Grover Cleveland would have remained a some what inconspicuous citizen of Buffalo It has always been believed by party leaders that had Olcott been elected governor he would have inevitably re- ceived the democratic nomination for president in 1884 because in support oi his election as governor would have been as large as the phenomenal ma jority which Grover Cleveland received Democracy took up Cleveland after Olcott decided to become banker in New York
 WHAT OLCOTT DID
 Mir Olcott took young trust institu- ton not quite 10 years of age and within two or three years made it the most conspicuous trust company not only i1 New York, but in the United States Great opportunities came. to his hands and he accepted them. He made profits