James Cunningham Bishop


James Cunningham Bishop, son of New York capitalist Heber R. Bishop, was a banker

Early life

Bishop was born on May 13, 1870 at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. He was the son of Heber R. Bishop and the former Mary Cunningham. Among his siblings were Mary Cunningham Bishop, Elizabeth Templeton Bishop Harriet Arnold Bishop, Heber Reginald Bishop Jr., Francis Cunningham Bishop, Edith Bishop,, and Ogden Mills Bishop.
He was a graduate of Harvard University.

Career

After graduating from Harvard, Bishop became an associate member of Redmond & Co. of New York, a securities firm, in 1904. Beginning in 1916, he was a "heavy stockholder and officer" of the Welsbach Street Illuminating Company. At the time of his death, Bishop served as the vice-president and treasurer of the firm.
He also served as a director of the Syracuse Lighting Company and held directorates or executive positions in the American Street Lighting Company, the Barron Collier Company, the Kitson Company, the Pennsylvania Globe Company, and the Automatic Lighting Company, as well as a group of Welsbach enterprises.

Personal life

Bishop who married Abigail Adams Hancock, niece of Winfield Scott Hancock, in 1891 and had five children. They divorced in 1913 in what was an early high profile divorce. Bishop's attorney was Henry Waters Taft, brother of ex-president William Howard Taft.
On June 1, 1932, Bishop was found dead at the wheel of his car in his garage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the motor was running when he was discovered by a gardener, investigators said the cause of death was heart disease rather than gas fumes.

Descendants

Through his youngest daughter Abigail, he is the great-grandfather of Fidelity Investments multi-billionaire Abigail Johnson.