Louis A. Thebaud
{{Infobox person
| name = Louis A. Thebaud
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| birth_date = October 4, 1859
| birth_place = Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date = April 2, 1939
| death_place = Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
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| occupation = Businessman, sportsman, philanthropist
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| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Gertrude Lee McCurdy
- Andrée des Etangs
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| relatives = Richard Aldrich McCurdy (father-in-law)
}}
Louis A. Thebaud (October 24, 1859 – April 2, 1939) was an American businessman, sportsman and philanthropist in the Gilded Age. After working for C. H. Raymond & Co., a contractor of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, for a dozen years, he was caught in a corporate scandal and sued alongside other members of his family. In his retirement, he sponsored sailing races and supported the First World War effort as well as a hospital in New Jersey. Additionally, he introduced Brittany spaniels, a breed of hunting dogs, to the United States, and he was the founding president of the American Brittany Club.
Early life
Louis A. Thebaud was born on October 24, 1859, in Orange, New Jersey.{{cite web|title=Louis Andre Thebaud|url=http://clubs.akc.org/brit/Other/LouisAThebaud.pdf|website=American Kennel Club|accessdate=December 5, 2015}} His parents were Paul Louis Thébaud and his first wife, born Mathilde Louisa Pillot. He was of French descent. The Thébaud family, who were members of the French nobility, had emigrated to the United States in the wake of the French Revolution, where they ran an import-export business. His great grandfather was Joseph Thebaud and his grandfather Edward Thebaud.
Business career
Thebaud worked for C. H. Raymond & Co. from 1893 to 1906.{{cite news|title=Two More Mutual Suits. Complains Against McCurdys and Raymond Company Served. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/87782837/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The New York Tribune |location=New York City |date=March 27, 1906 |page=2 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}} The firm, headed by Charles H. Raymond, was a contractor for the Mutual Life Insurance Company, whose president was his father-in-law. In 1906, Thebaud was sued by the company alongside his father-in-law, brother-in-law, and Raymond, over a corporate scandal. As early as 1905, the press revealed he was paid between $920,113 and $932,831 in commissions by Mutual life.{{cite news|title=Paid By the Mutual. Big Commissions to Members of McCurdy's Family. More than $2,400,000. Extraordinary Grand Jury to Investigate Insurance Scandals. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/53791647/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The Wilmington Messenger |location=Wilmington, North Carolina |date=October 6, 1905 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}}{{cite news|title=The M'Curdy Share. Profits Through Family Relations With Mutual in Last 21 Years Amount to $4,534,120. President's Big Salary. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/48265727/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The Scranton Republican |location=Scranton, Pennsylvania |date=October 7, 1905 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}} The scandal was described by The Washington Post as a prime example of nepotism.{{cite news|title=It's a Family Affair. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/30654845/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Washington, D.C. |date=October 7, 1905 |page=48 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}}
Thebaud served on the board of directors of the Morristown Trust Company.{{cite news|title=Morristown Trust Co. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/95075365/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=Bernardsville News |location=Bernardsville, New Jersey |date=April 1, 1915 |page=4 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 5, 2015 }} {{Open access}}
Philanthropy
Thebaud and his wife made charitable contributions to the American Field Service in France during the First World War.{{cite web|title=Appendix J: NAMES AND DONORS OF CARS IN THE AMERICAN FIELD SERVICE IN FRANCE|url=http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/memoir/AFShist/AFS3j.htm|website=History of the American Field Service in France|publisher=Brigham Young University|accessdate=December 5, 2015}} They also supported an all girls' school in Saint-Briac-sur-Mer, Brittany, France. Additionally, they donated US$200,000 to the All Souls Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey,{{cite news|title=Give Ambulance to All Souls' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/95730323/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=Bernardsville News |location=Bernardsville, New Jersey |date=March 27, 1930 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 5, 2015 }} {{Open access}} US$100,000 of which were donated specifically by his wife.{{cite news|title=L.A. THEBAUD DIES; PHILANTHROPIST, 79; Was a Sponsor of Schooner Gertrude L. Thebaud, Winner of Lipton Trophy in 1930 AIDED FRANCE IN THE WAR He and His First Wife Also Gave Maternity Building to Hospital in Morristown|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/04/03/91560169.pdf|accessdate=December 5, 2015|work=The New York City|date=April 3, 1939|quote=Louis A. Thebaud of Canfield Road, Convent, philanthropist and sportsman, died today at All Souls Hospital after a long illness at the age of 79.}}{{cite book|last1=Rae|first1=John W.|title=Mansions of Morris County|date=1999|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Mount Pleasant, South Carolina|isbn=073850064X|oclc=42724737|page=22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLGDcu-PsrkC&q=%22Louis+A.+Thebaud%22&pg=PA22|accessdate=December 4, 2015}} They also donated an ambulance in 1930.
Boating and hunting
Thebaud sponsored the Gertrude L. Thebaud, an American schooner named in honor of his wife, in 1930.{{cite book|last1=McLaren|first1=Keith|title=A Race for Real Sailors: Bluenose and the International Fisherman's Cup 1920 - 1938|date=2009|publisher=Douglas & McIntyre|location=Vancouver, Canada|isbn=978-1567923131|pages=163–164|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=noFderUIU1UC&q=%22Louis+A.+Thebaud%22&pg=PA163|accessdate=December 4, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Thebaud Sponsor Taken By Death |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11079287/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The Evening Independent |location=Massilon, Ohio |date=April 3, 1939 |page=9 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}} It won the Lipton Trophy in 1930.
Thebaud first imported griffons, a breed of hunting dogs, to the United States. Later, he introduced the Brittany spaniel, another breed of hunting dogs, to the United States. Thebaud used Brittany spaniels on his quail hunts in Florida. Meanwhile, two of his dogs, Franche de Cosqueron and Genette du Mesnil, were recorded in the Field Dog Stud Book. Additionally, his dogs competed in field trials and dog shows.{{cite news|title=Fifty-four Different Breeds, 1,612 Actual Dogs, Representing 2,780 Entires, to Be Benched at Westminster Show. Dog Show Entry Is the Best In Many Seasons. Pacific Coast, Canada and Middle West Exhibitors Will Be Prominent in Westminster Kennel Club's Exhibition in Grand Central Palace.|first=Frank P. |last=Dole |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/64277445/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22|newspaper=The Sun and The New York Herald |location=New York City |date=February 8, 1920 |page=25 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 5, 2015 }} {{Open access}}
Thebaud and Louis de la Fleche co-founded the Brittany Spaniel Club of North America (later known as the American Brittany Club) in 1936. Thebaud served as its first president.
Personal life
In November 1886, Thebaud married Gertrude Lee McCurdy, the daughter of Richard Aldrich McCurdy, president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. The couple resided at Idlewild, a mansion in Morris Plains, New Jersey.{{cite book|last1=Vogt|first1=Virginia Dyer|last2=Myers|first2=Daniel B.|title=Morris Plains|date=2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Mount Pleasant, South Carolina|isbn=9780738504827|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1xdDCLfDVUC&q=%22Louis+A.+Thebaud%22&pg=PA87|accessdate=December 4, 2015}} By 1905, McCurdy acquired a 300-acre estate in Morristown, New Jersey from B.O. Canfield in 1905, tore it down, and commissioned the construction of a new mansion called Beauregard.
Gertrude died on November 24, 1930, and Thébaud married Andrée des Etangs on April 26, 1933. There were no children of either marriage.
Thebaud was a co-founder of the Whippany River Club, a millionaire's club in Morristown, alongside Robert McCurdy, R.H. Williams, Rudolph Kissel, Gordon McDonald, Benjamin Nicoll, Robert D. Foote, Norman Henderson, Arthur R. Whitney, Frederick O. Spedden, W. DeLancy Kountze, Francis H. Kinnicutt.{{cite book|last1=Rae|first1=John W.|title=Morristown: A Military Headquarters of the American Revolution|date=2002|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Mount Pleasant, South Carolina|isbn=073852400X|pages=106–108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3c95MVj5440C&q=whippany+river+club&pg=PA106|accessdate=December 4, 2015}}
Death
Thebaud died on April 2, 1939, in hospital in Morristown, New Jersey.{{cite news|title=Louis A. Thebaud. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/52696015/?terms=%22Louis%2BA.%2BThebaud%22 |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |location=Brooklyn, New York |date=April 3, 1939 |page=9 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =December 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}}
References
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Category:American people of French descent
Category:People from Orange, New Jersey
Category:People from Morris Plains, New Jersey
Category:Businesspeople from Morristown, New Jersey
Category:American businesspeople in insurance