Francis Jay Underhill

Francis Jay Underhill was an author, amateur musician, and American bond broker with two firms, Fisk amp Robinson and later with J. amp W. Seligman amp Co., that played a leading role in the financing and construction of the Panama Canal. Owing to his commercial success, Underhill was a collector of art and musical instruments, including many engravings, etchings, and lithographs of noted European and American artists. Underhill was an amateur musician and acquired an Antonio Stradivari violin of 1732 called the Red Diamond. Underhill was also 4th President of the Underhill Society of America.

Francis Jay Underhill was born April 30, 1863, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 1880 he worked as a clerk in the Blackstone National Bank in Boston, Massachusetts, and later in Chelsea. In 1881 he moved to Buffalo, New York, and worked for the Standard Oil Company. While in Buffalo, Underhill married Eliza Corning Otto.

Source: Wikipedia