Richard McGarrah Helms

[Linda Minor]

Gates W. McGarrah and his wife on Feb. 1, 1910 announced in the Orange County Times-Press in Middletown, New York that the marriage of their daughter Marion to Herman Henry Helms would take place at the Collegiate Church of Saint Nicholas in New York City on Feb. 16.

Feb. 18, 1910
Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Knight and John Wallace attended the wedding
of Miss Marion McGarrah and Herman Henry Helms at the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, in New York this afternoon. Miss McGarrah is the niece of Mr. and Mrs. Knight.

Middletown Daily Times-Press--April 5, 1913
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Helms, of Philadelphia, on March 29, Herman Helms, Jr. Mrs. Helms was Miss Marion McGarrah, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gates W. McGarrah, who have a summer home near this village on the Montgomery state road.

New York Times advertisement, Jan. 1, 1907:

LEATHER MANUFACTURERS NATIONAL BANK, Established 1832.
29 WALL ST., NEW YORK.
DIRECTORS:
WILLIAM M. KING5LAND
NICHOLAS F. PALMER
WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER
WILLIAM C STURGES
WILLIAM H. MACY, JR.
GEORGE W. QUINTARD
JOHN T. WILLETS
GATES W. McGARRAH
OFFICERS:
NICHOLAS F. PALMER, President
WILLIAM H. MACY, JR., Vice President
GATES W. .MCGARRAH, 2d Vice Prest. and Cashier
FRANK 0. ROE, Assistant Cashier

Note: McGarrah had been cashier of the Leather Bank at least as early as 1899.

By 1904 he was president of this bank:
CHARTERED I81O
THE MECHANICS' NATIONAL BANK
33 WALL STREET, NEW YORK
WILLIAM B. BOULTON, of Boulton, Bliss & Dallett.
THOMAS P. FOWLER, President-N. Y., O. & W. R. R. Co.
HORACE E. GARTH, Ex-Pres. Mechanics National Bank.
HENRY HENTZ, of Henry Hentz & Co.
THOMAS H. HUBBARD, New York.
CLARENCE H. KELSEY, Pres. Title Guarantee & Trust Co..
WILLIAM M. KINGSLAND, New York.
ANDREW A. KNOWLES, 3d Vice-President.
LOWELL LINCOLN, of Catlin & Co.
GATES W. McGARRAH, President.
V. EVER1T MACY, New York.
DIRECTORS
EDGAR L. MARSTON, of Blair & Co.
ALEXANDER E. ORR, of David Dows & Co.
NICHOLAS F. PALMER, Quintard Iron Works.
CHARLES M. PRATT, Standard Oil Company.
GEORGE W. QUINTARD, New York.
ANTON A. RAVEN, Pres. Atlantic Mutual Ins. Co.
WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER, Standard Oil Company.
JOHN SINCLAIR, New York.
HENRY B. STOKES, Pres. Manhattan Life Ins. Co.
WILLIAM C. STURGES, Pres. Seamen's Bank for Savings
HENRY TALMADGE, of Henry Talmadge & Co.
JOHN T. WILLETS of Willets & Co.
OFFICERS:
GATES W. McGARRAH, President
1st Vice President NICHOLAS P. PALMER, 2d Vice President
ANDREW A. KNOWLES, 3d Vice President
FRANK 0. ROE, Cashier
ROBERT U. GRAFF, Assistant Cashier

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If you want to know who both the military and the CIA work for, you have to understand this nation's money, and its metals:

New York Times--Nov. 5, 1909
Mechanics and Metals' National Bank
Will Be the Name of the Combined Institution.

Plans for the consolidation of the Mechanics' National Bank and the National
Copper Bank were approved by the Board of Directors of both banks at meeting's held yesterday, and the merger of the two institutions will shortly be submitted to the stockholders of both banks for their formal ratification. A majority of the stockholders in both institutions have already given their assent to "the plan.
The enlarged bank will be known as the Mechanics and Metals' National Bank,
and will have a capital of $6,000,000. This consolidation will give the Mechanic's and Metals' National Bank assets approximating $100,000,000. The Mechanics' National Bank was founded In 1810, and is one of the oldest banking institutions in this city. Its present capital Is 53,000,000, and It has surplus and undivided, profits of $3,800,00 and deposits of $38,000,000.
The National Copper Bank, although a young institution, having been opened for business May 1, 1907,; has enjoyed conspicuous success, its deposits in two and one-half years having grown to $35,000,000. The National Copper Bank's capital is $2,000,000, and it has surplus and undivided
profits of about $2,800,000. It was organized by prominent copper interests, including the Cole-Ryan group, and in the merger of the two institutions John D. Ryan and Thomas F. Cole, who are now Vice Presidents of the National Copper Bank, will be added to the Board of Directors of the enlarged Institution.
The balance of the board will include all the present Directors of the two institutions. Gates W. McGarrah, President of the Mechanics' National Bank, and President Charles H. Sabin of the National Copper Bank are personal friends, and in the make-up of the officers of the enlarged institution Mr. McGarrah will be President and Mr. Sabin First Vice President.
It came to light -yesterday that it was originally proposed in carrying out the
merger to adopt the English plan of joint managers with equal powers, but this seemed impracticable under the National Bank law, and hence Mr. Sabin, though First Vice President, will divide with Mr. McGarrah the powers and duties of President.
Details of the merger of the two institutions were submitted yesterday to a
joint committee of the boards of the Mechanics' National and the National Copper Bank, and the plan to be drawn up by this committee will be presented to the stockholders in a few days. The business of the Mechanics and Metals National Bank will be carried on at 33 Wall Street, the present offices of the Mechanics' Bank. The National Copper Bank is now located at 115 Broadway.
In addition to the Directors named the merged bank will' have these Directors
from the two banks: Daniel Barnes, William.B, Boulton, Thomas P. Fowler,
Horace E. Garth. Henry Hentz, Thomas H. Hubbard, William A. Jamison, Clarence H. Kelsey, Andrew A. Knowles, Lowell Lincoln, V. Everitt Macy, 'Henry R. Mallory, Edgar L. Marston, S. T. Morgan, Alexander E. Orr, Nicholas F. Palmer, Charles M. Pratt, George W Quintard, Anton A. Raven, Percy A. Rockefeller, Henry B. Stokes, and John T. Willets, all of the present board of the Mechanics' National Bank; P. Lothrop Ames, James M. Beck, James C. Bishop, Charles F, Brooker, William R. Craig, H.O. Havemeyer. Herbert H. Hewitt, James Jourdan, Adolph Lewisohn, William A. Paine, Robert C. Pruyn, F. W. Roebling, H. H. Rogers, Jr., George R. Sheldon, and R. M, Stuart Wortley, comprising the board of the National Copper Bank.

----
Review of census records:

1900 St. Louis, Missouri
Gates White McGarrah (maternal grandfather of Richard McG. Helms) was the son of Robert W. McGarrah, whose Kentucky-born mother, Susan M. Warren, was a widow in 1900, had apparently remarried when Robert was a child; he grew up in St. Louis as the stepson of John W. Warren, along with a half brother named Edward A. Warren. In 1900 40-year-old Robert and his son Gates were shown living at 2928 Sheridan Ave. with Susan M. Warren, her 30-year-old son, Edward A. Warren, and grandsons Edward Jr. and Harie.
In 1880, 20 year old Robert worked as a river pilot, while his older brother James B. McGarrah, worked in his stepfather's store; John Warren was in the business of "Fancy groceries and teas." They also had a sister named Stella K. McGarrah. Their address was 2943 Sheridan in St. Louis.
------

August 30, 1924:
Directs Gold Bank
by United Press
Paris. — Gates McGarrah, chairman of the board of the Mechanics and Metals National bank of New York and one of the directors of the New York Federal Reserve bank, was selected today as director of the new gold bank provided
by the Dawes-Young reparations plan.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Linda - more excellent digging.

Your investigation of Richard Helms' middle name opens a new and intriguing door....

In the interests of research, I've taken the liberty of copying your post from the other thread (where other issues are being discussed) into this one:

In December, 1968, Shackley became Chief of Station in Vietnam and took over Phung Hoang (Operation Phoenix). In his autobiography, Shackley denied he was the “godfather of Phung Hoang”. In fact, Shackley claims he did not approve of this program that involved the killing of non-combatant Vietnamese civilians suspected of collaborating with the National Liberation Front. However, according to Shackley, the Director of the CIA, Richard Helms, insisted that “we are not free agents” and that the CIA rather than the United States Army had to run Operation Phoenix. (40) Other members of Operation 40 in Vietnam at this time included Thomas Clines, David Morales, Rip Robertson and Félix Rodríguez. Two other members of the “Secret Team” in Vietnam with Shackley were John Singlaub and Richard Secord.

Since I believe we have to "follow the money" backwards, what do we know about Richard McGarrah Helms? Why not start with his grandfather, Gates McGarrah.

http://jaxrevenge.blogspot.com/2007/12/g...er-to.html

Gates W. McGarrah resigned as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to become the first Chairman of the Bank of International Settlements. His grandson was none other than Richard McGarrah Helms, CIA Deputy Director of Plans at the time of the JFK Assassination. JFK was a staunch opponent of the Federal Reserve Bank. Fancy that....Gates W. McGarrah, president of the B. I. S. (Bank for International Settlements) at Basle, Switzerland, which has replaced the defunct office for reparation payments in Berlin (TIME, Sept. 23, et seq.). Switzerland has worked wonders with Tycoon McGarrah. When he reluctantly resigned as board chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to go abroad and try to make the Young Plan work, no clam was closer, no Scotsman more cautious, dour. There was danger then lest reporters trap Mr. McGarrah into what could be construed as an admission that the B. I. S. might become "The World Bank," the omnivorous big brother, the dread competitor of the central banks of the world's nations.

http://jaxrevenge.blogspot.com/2007/12/r...ction.html
The grandfather of former Central Intelligence Agency Director Richard McGarrah Helms, an international financier named Gates White McGarrah, "was a member of the board of directors of the Astor Foundation which owned Newsweek prior to its sale to the Washington Post Company in 1961, according to Katharine The Great by Deborah Davis. The same book also revealed that in 1961 Bradlee "is said to have heard from his friend Richard Helms, who heard it from his grandfather that Newsweek would be put up for sale." Bradlee then obtained a check from the Washington Post Company head at the time, Philip Graham, for $1 million, to give to former CIA Director Helms' grandfather as a downpayment for the purchase of Newsweek.

McGarrah died in 1940, one year after the OSS was created by FDR to gather intelligence about the war in Europe. If you look at the men who were recruited, you have to assume the purpose of the intelligence was to protect American investors (bankers) who had bought assets in or made loans to Europe.

November 5, 1940
New York—(AP)—Gates W. McGarrah, 77, one of the country's leading bankers for more than 30 years, died today in Doctors hospital after a short illness. Known at the age of 28 as the youngest bank president in the United States, he served subsequently as chairman of the Federal Rescue Bank here and as president of the Bank for International Settlement, Basel, Switzerland,
until 1933. He was stricken Thursday at his offices. Gates White McGarrah rose rapidly from a clerkship in a small financial conditions in the various
countries.
Early in 1933, McGarrah tendered his resignation to become effective in May at the end of the bank's fiscal year. The directors asked him to retain his post until the end of the world economic conference in London and, a month
later at the directors' meeting, vainly sought a withdrawal of the resignation.
McGarrah pleaded his advanced years and said he felt out of place in a foreign country. He insisted on resigning and Leon Fraser, vice president of the bank and also an American, was elected to succeed him.

[Paul Rigby]

August 30, 1924:
Directs Gold Bank
by United Press
Paris. — Gates McGarrah, chairman of the board of the Mechanics and Metals National bank of New York and one of the directors of the New York Federal Reserve bank, was selected today as director of the new gold bank provided
by the Dawes-Young reparations plan.

As a brilliantly prescient young UP-er in Germany in the mid-1930s, Helms solemnly assured US readers of Hitler's benign intent toward Russia. One sees immediately why his rise within US intel was so sure-fire.

[Nathaniel Heidenheimer]

Great work.You sure can frame docs.

Looking forward to more on Helms. Has there been anything since 1979? Maybe its time for a new one?

[Nathaniel Heidenheimer]

A question I have been curious about is how Helms is often descibed as out of the loop in the Bay of Pigs. Was he, and why did a guy whose last job was the U2 have more organizational experience with exiles than Helms-- unless designed from the very first as a failure that would require the direct intervenion. If so what did that imply about the guy who was nominally running it?

Was Helms part of a wider loop on Bay of Pigs?

[Myra Bronstein]

A question I have been curious about is how Helms is often descibed as out of the loop in the Bay of Pigs. Was he, and why did a guy whose last job was the U2 have more organizational experience with exiles than Helms-- unless designed from the very first as a failure that would require the direct intervenion. If so what did that imply about the guy who was nominally running it?

Was Helms part of a wider loop on Bay of Pigs?

I don't know about this specific question Nathaniel, but I'll wade in anyway just because it seems to me that Allen Dulles took great pains to be out of the loop during the Bay of Pigs. Literally, I mean he left the country so that on the day of the invasion Kennedy was left holding the bag, and that was part of the setup that was supposed to force Kennedy to call in the overt armed forces.

The CIA is so good at being plausibly deniably "out of the loop."

[Myra Bronstein]

Great, interesting, intriguing details on Helms Linda.

[Linda Minor]

There is a fascinating story by George LoBuono about Richard Helms as a possible double identity for Howard Hughes. I'm not sure I buy it, but there is a lot of substantive information there as well.
http://www.newsmakingnews.com/helmslobuono.htm

[Adele Edisen]

Many thanks, Linda.

Adele

[David Guyatt]

Most interesting Linda. In passing I wonder if the Gold Bank had any hand in helping "re-distribute" some of the so called "Tsar's gold" that mysteriously disappeared in 1918. I very much doubt we will ever know, but Helms would certainly have been familiar with the post WWII "Black Eagle" fund of gold and other assets plundered by Germany and Japan during the war -- and so it is possible I suppose.