Edward Francis Hutton


Edward Francis Hutton was an American financier and co-founder of E. F. Hutton & Co., one of the largest financial firms in the United States.

Early life

Hutton was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of James Laws Hutton, who left an Ohio farm to work there. James died on December 14, 1885 at the age of 37 when Hutton was only ten years old, leaving Edward and his two siblings, Grace Hutton and Franklyn Laws Hutton to be raised by their mother, Frances Elouise Hulse Hutton. Hutton's younger brother, Franklyn, married Edna Woolworth, the dime store heiress and was the father of Barbara Hutton.
As a schoolboy, Hutton attended the New York Latin School before transferring to P.S. 69. During his adolescence, he worked in a gear factory at age fifteen and then two years later in the mailroom of a securities firm. He completed his studies by taking classes at Trinity Chapel High School and Packer's Business College.

Career

In 1904, Hutton and his brother Franklyn Laws Hutton founded the American stock brokerage firm E. F. Hutton & Co. Under their leadership, it became one of the most respected financial firms in the United States and for several decades was the second largest brokerage firm in the United States. E.F. Hutton merged in 1988 with Shearson Lehman/American Express.

Personal life

He married his first wife Blanch Horton on October 9, 1900. Blanch was the daughter of investment banker Henry Lawrence Horton. She died in the early days of the 1918 Spanish Flu influenza pandemic. Blanch and Edward had one son:
He married his second wife, General Foods heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, in 1920. During their marriage they built Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida; and also commissioned the largest privately owned seagoing yacht of the era, the Hussar V, which is best known as the :de:Sea Cloud|Sea Cloud. The Huttons divorced in 1935 after evidence of Hutton's affairs with other women became known to Marjorie. Together they had one child:
In February 1936, at age 60, he married twenty-eight-year-old Dorothy Dear Metzger, who had just divorced her husband, Homer, the previous October. E.F. met Dorothy through Marjorie's daughter Adelaide, who had invited Dorothy and her husband to spend a weekend with her and other friends at Hillwood. Dorothy and Homer P. Metzger had one daughter, who became Edward's stepdaughter upon the marriage:
Hutton died on July 11, 1962, in Old Westbury, New York. He is buried in Locust Valley Cemetery, Locust Valley, New York.

Notable Residences

E.F. Hutton had a passion for yachting and sport fishing and had numerous private yachts built throughout his lifetime. With the exception of Lady Baltimore, he would always named them Hussar:
NameYear Built/PurchasedSpecificationsDesignerShipyardNotesAffiliate Yacht Club
Lady Baltimore191677 ft motor yacht, cruising speed 21 knotsBowes and MowerMathias Yacht building CompanyPurchased by E.F. Hutton in 1916New York Yacht Club
Hussar191063 ft auxiliary sloopWillard F. Downs, Bay Shore, NYBuilt for E.F. Hutton
Hussar II
Hussar III1921 145 ft long, 20 ft beam, twin screw diesel motor yachtHenry J. Gielow of New YorkKyle & Purdy, City Island, NY.Built for E.F. HuttonNew York Yacht Club
Hussar IV1923163 ft, 33 ft beam, 3 masted schoonerCox & StevensBurmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, DenmarkBuilt for E.F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather PostNew York Yacht Club
Hussar V 1931316 ft long, 49 ft beam, 4 masted barqueCox & StevensKrupp Germaniawerft shipyard, Kiel, GermanyBuilt for E.F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post, renamed Sea Cloud after their divorce.New York Yacht Club