Elgin R. L. Gould

We do not always range our friends by their visible occupations, as much as by the tenor of their lives. Latterly Elgin Ralston Lovell Gould had been occupied with the direction of an enterprise which was as much business as philanthropy. For he was an excellent business man as well as a philanthropist who loved his fellow-men, and served the city for the city’s good. The City and Suburban Homes Company, of which he was the President, was an enterprise designed to improve the living environment of wage earners and at the same time provide a remunerative commercial investment. It accomplished both these ends, and was an admirable exponent of the character and abilities of its promoter.

Gould was born in the province of Ontario in 1860 and graduated in 1881 at the University of Toronto. Later he studied and also lectured at Johns Hopkins, where he was a Fellow and took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Still later he lectured at Columbia and for a time was a professor in the University of Chicago. His province was political economy and civic statistics, subjects which he pursued in the cities of Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In our city he was an early promoter of the Citizens’ Union, and treasurer for the fusion movement which elected Seth Low as Mayor, under whom he served as City Chamberlain. Continuing active in civic affairs, he was vice-chairman of the New York City Charter Revision Committee, appointed by Governor Hughes. Knowledge and thoughtfulness were evinced in a number of works written by him upon the subjects in which he had worked so effectively. Dr. Gould was Treasurer of St. Bartholomew’s Church and from 1909 to the date of his death was Treasurer of this Association. Those who served with him on the Board of Management will give their affectionate testimony to his efficiency and kindly wisdom. He was a man free from rancor, with a large and hospitable heart.

Henry Osborn Taylor
1916 Century Association Yearbook