George Albree
Born in Salem, Massachusetts to Lydia and John Albree, a merchant, George Albree led an adventurous youth. As a boy, he ran off to sail the oceans, joining the crew of the merchant marine sloop Holkar. During his few months at sea, he witnessed a naval battle off the coast of Maine before his alarmed father ultimately tracked him down and returned him home.
Albree moved to Pittsburgh in 1825, joining his brother, John. The Albrees were not bankers by background. The family business was a shoe store, located at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh. A self-taught meteorologist, George Albree's detailed weather observations were part of a diary he kept for 26 years, from 1846-1872. His weather reports are preserved at the Smithsonian.
Albree was elected president of Dollar Bank in July 1855. To keep expenses low while the bank was starting up, Albree did not take a salary for the first four years of his term as president.
Albree and his wife, Martha, had four children. Albree served as an elder of Third Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh for forty years.