USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 3 > Part 33
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54
ing liquors of any kind so ever from date until arrived at the age of twenty-one and if then this course be found beneficial whether or not I will follow this rule the rest of life, remains for myself to de- termine." The above has been drawn out and is now signed from a growing incli- nation towards indulging in them ex- hibiting itself. From his diary, date of November 14, 1850, this extract is taken :
In my eighteenth year, of moderate size and passable looks, engaged in the grocery business with an uncle, I sometimes feel a contentment and at others a depression of spirits which alter- nately makes me satisfied with my condition and again spreads on all objects around a gloom which a day of active exercise alone can dispel. But my trust is in God. He will answer my prayers and give me the equilibrium of disposi- tion, the sobriety of thought and activity of mind and body which I have long and earnestly de- sired. I wish to be neither too grave nor gay, but desire to unite the two traits in such a manner as will render me a happy medium.
Above all things I would be governed in my actions and thoughts by a high and holy principle which will lead me always to consider the right and justice; influence me to act kindly and gen- erously toward all, to relieve the wants of the destitute, encourage the disheartened and which will impart to my character a firmness and proper dignity and give to my feelings an elevation which shall act as a talisman to protect me from the low contaminations surrounding me, by which I sometimes fear that I have been somewhat corrupted.
From June 12, 1852, until March 27, 1853, he took an extended tour through Europe and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, a journey taken at his father's instance as a health measure, but for the young man it became a period of investigation and study, not mere sight- seeing. At Bueckeburg, the home of his German ancestors, he visited the house in which his grandfather was born. His let- ters from European cities and from the Holy Land display an interest in every- thing he saw, and a close observation that enabled him to write most interest-
226
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ingly and intelligently of the countries he visited. He returned to New York from Havre on the steamer "Humbolt," arriv- ing home in April, 1853.
With his return from Europe, Mr. Havemeyer began his business life in earnest. He became clerk in the Have- meyer & Moller Sugar House and in a few months wrote to his sister: "I went into the sugar house as clerk towards the last of December and have now (Jan- uary 30, 1853) entire charge of the office." During this period he was vice-president of the Everett Club, a debating society, and was active in the support of religion and the church.
On the last day of the year 1855 he signed a partnership agreement with Charles E. Bertrand, then beginning his independent career as a sugar refiner. The firm Havemeyer & Bertrand was located at Williamsburg at what is now the corner of South Third and First streets, Brooklyn. Six months later a cousin, F. C. Havemeyer, was admitted to the firm. The difficulty in getting proper machinery from Germany caused delay and loss, and after nine months of struggle Mr. Havemeyer sold his inter- est to Havemeyer & Moller.
In November, 1856, he started on a journey intending to travel east and west until he found a business opportunity and wherever he found a business opportun- ity there to settle, but after visiting Bos- ton and Worcester he returned to New York, there deciding to remain. In March, 1857, he entered the employ of Havemeyer & Moller and during the fall of that year made a business trip to De- troit and other places, a journey he re- cords in his diary as one on which he "made the acquaintance of several prin- cipal firms in the grocery business." In January, 1859, he made a special arrange- ment with the firm of William Moller & Company, Steam Sugar Refiners, as
salesman and agent, with power of attor- ney, his compensation $3,000 a year and a share of the net profits of the business. His responsibilities were very great and involved business trips to various parts of the country. The entries in his diary at this period, although meagre, show him to have been in improved health and spirits and very active in his business. Yet, business cares did not prevent his giving time to the church, Sunday school, Young Men's Christian Association, Bible Society and the Everett Club, and wherever he happened to be on a Sun- day he always attended Divine service.
About the end of January, 1860, Mr. Havemeyer left William Moller & Com- pany, and very soon afterward started independently as a commission merchant with offices first at No. 107 Water street, later at No. 175 Pearl street, also becom- ing a member of the New York Produce Exchange. It was at that time that Mr. Havemeyer, prompted by devotion to Christian business principle, had Scrip- tural quotations printed on his business letterheads. His father objected to the practice and in deference to him the prac- tice was discontinued. Mr. Havemeyer admitted his brother Henry to a partner- ship in 1865 under the firm name of John C. Havemeyer & Brother. Their busi- ness was largely in tobacco and rice, later many other articles were handled and journeys east, west and south were necessary. This business relation existed until July, 1869, when the firm of Have- meyer & Company, composed of Albert and Hector C. Havemeyer, engaged John C. Havemeyer to conduct the mercantile part of their sugar refining business with power of attorney. This was an ex- tremely responsible position, involving extensive purchases and sales of sugar ; "and any other articles for the use of or being the product of one refinery, or otherwise required by our business, to
227
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
draw or endorse checks and orders for the payment of money, to make or in- dorse any promissory notes or bills of exchange, to borrow money and generally to negotiate and transact in the name and in behalf of said firm, all financial and commercial matters properly relating to said business as fully and effectually as either we or either of us as copartners in said firm could do if present." Under so wide a contract Mr. Havemeyer worked for nine months when Have- meyer & Company sold out to Have- meyer & Elder, January 7, 1870. From that time until 1880 Mr. Havemeyer was a member of the firm of Havemeyer Brothers & Company, Sugar Refiners, No. 89 Wall street. He sold his one- sixth interest in the firm in September, 1880, to John E. Searles, Jr., of No. 100 Wall street, retiring from that time on from all connection with the sugar busi- ness ; often during later years it has been erroneously stated that he was a member of the "Sugar Trust." Many times he has been falsely attacked in that connec- tion and to disprove the charge he has in several instances publicly set forth his relations, terminating in 1880, to the busi- ness of sugar refining.
From 1880 until his retirement, Mr. Havemeyer confined his business opera- tions to real estate dealing in the States of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, and the region now the State of Oklahoma. During the seventies he was president of the Central Railroad of Long Island, associated as a bondholder with the Darien Short Line Railroad in 1893, in 1890 prominently connected with the reorganization of the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad Company, and for some time was a trustee of the Con- tinental Trust Company of New York.
During the years 1876 to 1881 Mr. Havemeyer, as the executor of the will of his father, found himself with his brother
Henry the defendants in a suit brought by the administrators of the estate of his uncle, Albert Havemeyer, involving the charge of a breach of contract in the sale of a large amount of stock of the Long Island Railroad Company. Two juries decided against the defendants but on appeal the verdict was reversed, Judge William H. Taft, afterward President, was one of the judges who decided the case in John C. and Henry Havemeyer's favor.
In the home of his distinguished father and in subsequent social and business re- lations, Mr. Havemeyer frequently met men of great reputation and influence. One of these was Samuel J. Tilden, the great lawyer and Democratic idol, who used often to visit Mayor Havemeyer at his home, Mr. Tilden, a bachelor, then living on Union Square near Fourteenth street. He left a lasting impression on Mr. Havemeyer on account of his irregu- lar habits of life. He went to bed very late and got up very late, not before ten in the morning. He had false teeth and when agitated moved them about in his mouth and as his agitation increased would take them out and place them on the table. He drew up Mr. Havemeyer's partnership papers and warned him that it was important to look into all the de- tails of a partner's character, very much the same as when one got married. In the early eighties Mr. Havemeyer was connected in business with John Wana- maker, the great merchant and states- man, and has some interesting letters ex- changed with that great man, with Judge Taft, and many other men of an earlier day. Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, the noted agnostic, was also brought in busi- ness touch with him, and an interesting correspondence between the two men is preserved, all the more interesting on ac- count of the abysmal difference between them in relation to Christian belief.
228
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
For forty years after his marriage in 1872 Mr. Havemeyer made Yonkers his home and took a deep interest in promot- ing its prosperity. He advocated public parks, headed the agitation which result- ed in old historic Manor Hall being saved and transferred to the State of New York, and at the dedication of "Hollywood Inn," a non-sectarian club house for young men, represented St. John's Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew in a speech full of deep feeling. He was and is opposed to war on Christian grounds, depreciates the patriotism that is found- ed on military or naval prowess, believes that humanity and religion are above patriotism and the law of universal love before that of allegiance to one's country, and that as long as mankind shall con- tinue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors the thirst for military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters. He has maintained his positions in the religious and secular press, beginning at the age of seventeen with an article in the New York "Evening Post," of which Wil- liam Cullen Bryant was the editor, down to the present, taking issue with Theo- dore Roosevelt's article in the "Outlook" in 1909 on "Great Armaments and Peace," answering it in the "Christian Advocate" of New York. He was a Democrat by inheritance, but never has been narrowly partisan. He warmly supported Grover Cleveland for President, and in 1908 sup- ported Bryan, but with little enthusiasm, believing on the whole he represented better principles than his opponent. He bitterly opposed the use of the pulpit as a political rostrum. In 1903, when capi- tal and labor were in bitter controversy, Mr. Havemeyer endeavored to bring about a better mutual understanding by public discussion and at his own expense obtained Music Hall, Yonkers, in which to hold the meeting, his position being
wholly impartial, only seeking to estab- lish the fact that both capital and labor were under obligations to higher de- mands of humanity and religion.
Mr. Havemeyer was reared in the at- mosphere of a religious home, and at about the age of sixteen made an open profession of religion and joined the Methodist church. From this early age he associated himself actively with all departments of his church, believing them all essential to the development of the best type of Christian character. In 1862 he aided in founding the Christian Brotherhood of Central Methodist Epis- copal Church, New York, of which Rev. Alfred Cookman of sainted memory was pastor, and became its first president. After settling in Yonkers he joined the First Methodist Church and has never removed his membership. He was treas- urer of the building committee in charge of the erection of the present beautiful church edifice and he has been a devoted and influential layman of the church he loves for over sixty years. For a number of years he was closely associated with the work of the Evangelical Alliance and a member of the executive committee. In the work of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, he has taken a lively interest since youth, his membership dat- ing back to 1855 when the association occupied rooms in Clinton Hall, Astor Place. It was largely through his aid that the Yonkers branch was established. He was its first president, personally raised the first year's salary of the gen- eral secretary, was for years president of the board of trustees, was a recognized association speaker and addressed more Young Men's Christian Association audi- ences than any man in Yonkers, com- pleted the fund to pay off its mortgage indebtedness, and as the secretary writes : "There hangs in my office, just over my desk, a fine portrait of the kindly earnest,
229
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
generous face of my friend, John C. Havemeyer, with the inscription on the frame, 'John C. Havemeyer, First Presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation 1881'."
For many years he was a local preacher of his church and occupied many pulpits other than those of his own denomina- tion. The Bible is his great and final authority ; what can be proved by it is binding beyond dispute. He believes thoroughly in personal Christian work, in strict Sabbath observance. He has writ- ten many monographs, among others "A Study of Labor Unions," "Patriotism," "Shall We Prepare for War in Time of Peace," "The Needs of the Church from a Layman's Standpoint," "What is Love of Country," "Great Armaments and Peace," "Fundamental Facts About Re- ligion," and "Foundation Truth." His newspaper articles are legion and there has been no great moral, religious or ethical question of his time that he has not publicly discussed, and has never sought an obscure person to discuss it with.
Personal philanthropy cannot be fairly dealt with in a biography for the essence of true benevolence is secrecy. But phi- lanthropy is an indication of character and the method and spirit in which it ex- presses itself deserve careful considera- tion. Mr. Havemeyer was born with an inherited disposition to help those in need and was trained to do good from earliest days by precept and home example. He believes in simple living and regards wealth as a stewardship for which an ac- count must finally be rendered. He gives systematically and as far as possible finds out all he can concerning the person or cause he is assisting. He holds decided opinions upon philanthropy, as he does upon every question he deems of impor- tance, and is not easily driven from a
position in which he has intrenched him- self particularly if it be a Bible truth. He is conscientious to the last degree, emi- nently fair in argument and most cour- teous. A strong character and one the world should know better.
Mr. Havemeyer married in Athens, Greece, December 5, 1872, Alice Alide Francis, daughter of John Morgan and Harriet E. (Tucker) Francis. Her father was for three years United States minis- ter to Greece, later United States am- bassador to Austria-Hungary, and owner as well as editor of the Troy (New York) "Times." Mr. Havemeyer met his future bride in 1871 in Brussels, where she was sojourning with her parents. Later they became engaged and in November, 1872, sailed from New York to Greece to claim his bride. A number of distinguished guests were present at the marriage, among them several missionaries. They made Yonkers their permanent home.
CLARKE, R. Floyd, Attorney-at-Law, Author.
Mr. Clarke is descended on the father's side from one of the oldest Rhode Island families, with straight descent from the English family of Clarkes, originally located at Westhorpe, Suffolk county, England, whose pedigree can be traced back with the aid of Parish Registers and an ancient Bible to John Clarke, of Wes- thorpe, Suffolk county, England, who died there in 1559. (See "The Clarke Families of Rhode Island," by George Austin Mor- rison, Jr., page 13).
The grandson of this John Clarke was also of Westhorpe, and had among his seven children four males known as the "Immigrants," namely, second son Ca- rewe, third son Thomas, fifth son John, seventh son Joseph, who emigrated to America about 1637.
230
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Of these four immigrants, John Clarke, born October 8, 1609, died April 20, 1676, was the most prominent. (See sketch of him in 4 "Appleton's American Cyclo- paedia," 640, and "Story of Dr. John Clarke, Founder of Rhode Island," by Thomas W. Bicknell.) He devoted him- self to study, and at twenty-eight years of age we find him holding two professions -that of a physician and also that of an ordained minister of the Baptist faith. He appears in the Catalogue of the Uni- versity of Leyden, Holland, 1575-1875, as one of the students there on July 17, 1635 ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 74) ; and during his life he practiced both pro- fessions in New England, and also prac- ticed as a physician in London for twelve years while he was engaged in obtaining the charter for Rhode Island hereinafter mentioned.
He emigrated to Boston in November, 1637. Owing to his views on religious toleration, he came in conflict with the Puritan element, and was practically banished, and proceeded with others to form a settlement on the Island of Aquid- neck, Rhode Island. Later, in 1651, hav- ing held religious services at Lynn, he and two companions were sentenced to pay fines, or else to be whipped, and to remain in prison until paid, for their meet- ing at William Witter's about July 2Ist, and then and at other times preaching and blaspheming, etc. On August 31, 1651, from his prison he wrote to the Honored Court assembled at Boston, ac- cepting the proffer publicly made the day before of a dispute with the ministers, and therefore "do desire you would ap- point the time when, and the person with whom" the points might be disputed pub- licly. This challenge to a debate was not accepted, and his fine and Mr. Crandall's were paid by friends without their con- sent, they thus escaping corporal punish-
ment. His fellow prisoner, Holmes, was publicly flogged. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 85.)
Later, Dr. Clarke and Roger Williams proceeded to England-Clarke represent- ing the Newport and Aquidneck colonies, and Williams the Providence colony. Williams returned, but Clarke remained in England for twelve years, watching over and advancing the affairs of the Colony, and finally obtained from the Government of Charles II. a Royal Char- ter for Rhode Island in the year 1663. This charter contains the first guarantee of civil and religious freedom in America. In fact it is the first charter of religious toleration ever granted. This charter provided : "that no person within the said colony at any time hereafter shall be in anywise molested, punished, disquieted or called in question for any differences of opinion in matters of religion, which do not actually disturb the civil peace." ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 193.) The provisions in this charter, embody- ing freedom of religious thought and wor- ship with a temperate and just civil gov- ernment as opposed to the narrow and dogmatic attitude of the other New Eng- land colonies at this time upon these questions was chiefly the idea and con- ception of John Clarke. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra.)
Dr. Clarke maintained himself in Eng- land by using his own funds, and we find later that the town of Providence and other towns voted him a partial compen- sation for his outlays. On returning to the Colonies, he settled at Newport, and later died there, without issue, after hold- ing various religious and public offices. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke, supra.)
While John Clarke left no issue, his three brothers left issue, resulting in one of the three branches of the Clarke family in the United States.
231
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Joseph Clarke, of Westhorpe, Suffolk county, England, and later of Newport and Westerly, brother of John Clarke, is the ancestor of R. Floyd Clarke, of this review. Joseph Clarke was admitted an inhabitant of the Island of Aquidneck at Newport in 1638. He was president at the General Court of Election in 1640, and became a freeman on March 17, 1641. He was made one of the original mem- bers of the First Baptist Church of New- port in 1644, and a member of the General Court of Trials in 1648; he became a free- man of the Colony and acted as a com- missioner in 1655-57-58-59 and was as- sistant in 1658-63-64-65-78-80-90. His name appears in the charter granted to Rhode Island by Charles II., July 8, 1663. He became a freeman at Westerly in 1668, and acted as deputy to the General Assembly in 1668-69-70-71-72-90. He was a member of the Court of Justices of the Peace in 1677. He returned to Newport in the later years of his life. ("Clarke Families of Rhode Island," Morrison, p. 23.)
The descendants of Joseph Clarke, the immigrant above referred to, continued living in Newport and Westerly and occu- pying various religious and political posi- tions from time to time until the eighth generation was represented by Thomas Clarke, of Westerly, and later of North Stonington, Connecticut, born June 10, 1749, died May 28, 1832, married, June 10, 1770, Olive Marsh, of Hartford, Vermont, among whose eleven children was a son, Samuel, born June 23, 1790 (ibid, p. 69).
This Samuel Clarke was the grand- father of R. Floyd Clarke. The story as told in the family is that Samuel Clarke was of a studious turn of mind, and pre- ferred books to ploughing, much to the chagrin of his father, Thomas Clarke; that on one occasion when the boy was about fifteen years old, his father caught
him reading Euclid in the shade of a tree while the horses and plough stood idle in the furrow. Result-serious parental chastisement, and that night the young- ster ran away to sea. Beginning as a cabin boy in the New England West Indies trade, he soon became a super- cargo, waxed well in this world's goods- married Eliza Burnell, daughter of an English sea captain at Nassau, in the Ba- hamas, and taking her to the United States established himself as a factor, etc., in marine stores, etc., at St. Marys, Georgia, on the river St. Marys, a tribu- tary of the river St. Johns. Later he was practically ruined by the burning of his warehouse and stock, etc., by a predatory expedition of the British up the St. Marys river in the War of 1812. Making a new start at the same place, he again im- proved in this world's goods when the Seminole War came along, and with it the destruction of his warehouse and goods and family residence by flames, he and his family barely escaping with their lives. Again a new start in life, with a wife and large family on his hands, in Savannah and St. Marys, and again a successful issue and the death of the old gentleman at his place of residence, "Glenwood," St. Marys, Georgia, Octo- ber 26, 1858, where he had been accus- tomed to entertain his friends in the style of the old Southern hospitality of "before the war." He left his second wife sur- viving ; he had no issue by her, but had issue by his first wife of some fifteen chil- dren. Lemuel Clarence Clarke, the sixth son and tenth child of this couple, was the father of R. Floyd Clarke.
On his father's side Mr. Clarke has a small mixture of Spanish blood. His great-grandmother, Elizabeth Sanchez, of the Venanchio Sanchez family of St. Au- gustine, Florida, married Captain Bur- nell, an English sea captain, the father of
232
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
his grandmother, who became the wife of the Samuel Clarke, above mentioned.
On his mother's side Mr. Clarke is of mixed English and Scotch blood - his grandmother, Sarah Caroline Heriot, be- ing of the Heriots hailing from George- town, South Carolina, and prior to that from Haddington, in Scotland. Of this family was that George Heriot who founded a hospital in Edinburgh, and a sketch of whose life may be found in the 13 Encyclopaedia Brittanica (11th Ed.) p. 363. His grandfather on the mother's side, Thomas Boston Clarkson, was a resident of Charleston, and later of Columbia, South Carolina, and was a wealthy cotton planter owning four plan- tations and many slaves. He was de- scended from the Clarksons of England. and through the female line from the Scotch divine, Thomas Boston, Calvin- istic Theologian, 1676-1732, author of "The Crook and The Lot," and other theological works,-a sketch of whose life may be found in 2 Appleton's American Encyclopaedia, p. 139, and 4 Encyclopae- dia Brittanica (11th Ed.) p. 289.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.