 In the early 1900s , trust companies were booming ; in the decade before 1907 , their assets had grown by 244 % . During the same period , national bank assets grew by 97 % , while state banks in New York increased by 82 % . The leaders of the high @-@ flying trusts were mainly prominent members of New York 's financial and social circles . One of the most respected was Charles T. Barney , whose late father @-@ in @-@ law William Collins Whitney was a famous financier . Barney 's Knickerbocker Trust Company was the third @-@ largest trust in New York . 
