C. Hamilton Sanford

Charles Hamilton Sanford (May 28, 1873 - February 16, 1942) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was president of the Syracuse Trust Company and co-founder of Sanford-Herbert Motor Truck Company in Syracuse, New York.^[1]

Biography

Sanford was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 28, 1873. He was the son of Theodore S. Sanford and Arabella Fenton Sanford. His father was a "leading figure" in the banking and financial circles of the Ohio metropolis.^[1]

Early career

C. Hamilton Sanford, as he was known, was "so eager to get into the business field in which his father had succeeded" that, on graduation from Cleveland public schools, he took a job as a messenger for the German-American Savings Bank.^[1]

He worked there for a year and then became a clerk in the Western Reserve National Bank of Cleveland, where he remained until its merger with the Bank of Commerce National Association. During his time there, he rose to the position of "paying teller" and after the merger he was promoted to a "receiving teller" and later, "assistant cashier".^[1]

Bank president

In 1902, he became "cashier" of the old National Bank of Syracuse where he remained in that position until 1915, when he was elected president of the firm.^[1]

When the National Bank of Syracuse was amalgamated with the Syracuse Trust Company in 1918, he became vice-president of the combined bank and was promoted to president two years later in 1920.^[1] Sanford spent another 19 years as executive head of the large Upstate, New York bank as a "financier of prestige", not only in his adopted state, but far beyond its confines.^[1]

By 1927, Syracuse Trust Company had two branches, one at 330 South Warren and the other at 509 North Salina Street in Syracuse.^[2] The company was renamed to Marine Midland Trust Company of Central New York in January 1953, and Marine Midland Bank in 1971. By 1999, the bank changed its name to HSBC Bank USA.^[3]

Syracuse Trust Company - interior - 1913

Syracuse Trust Company - Doric columns at 344 South Warren Street in Syracuse - 1913

Sanford-Herbert trucks

C. Hamilton Sanford was one of the founders of the Sanford-Herbert Motor Truck Company in Syracuse, New York, in 1909. He succeeded the late J. Frank Durston as president of the concern in 1921.^[1]

Retirement

He retired from active business in January 1939, but remained as head of the board of directors of the Syracuse Trust Company.^[1] Sanford was succeeded in the presidency by Harry W. Davies.^[1]

Personal life

He was married to Alice Durston Sanford and had two sons; C. Hamilton Sanford, Jr., and Durston Sanford and one daughter, Adele Sanford. He also had two grandchildren; Samuel Cook Sanford and C. Hamilton Sanford III.^[1]

He was a lifelong Republican. During World War I he worked for the Liberty Loan sales, in Red Cross drives and in the War Chest campaign.^[1]

Sanford was a member of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Century Club and the Onondaga Golf and Country Club.^[1]

Death

C. Hamilton Sanford died on February 16, 1942, at age 68. Funeral services were held at his home on Maple Drive in DeWitt, New York, a suburb of Syracuse. He had been in poor health for several years. Sanford was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse after services at First Presbyterian Church.^[1]

References