USA > New York > Famous families of New York; historical and biographical sketches of families which in successive generations have been identified with the development of the nation, Vol. I > Part 6
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Eugene [1836], brother of Gouverneur, married Caroline M. Shepherd, by whom he had three sons, Bertram, Randolph, and Melvin S.
Stephen Van Rensselaer [1844], son of John Church, was educated in Europe, and while studying abroad the civil war broke out at home. He returned and enlisted in the
Col.
Stephen Van One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment. He fought with
Rensselaer intrepidity through the four years. Severely wounded at the battle of Resaca, he was honorably discharged by the War Department in the belief that he would never recover. Careful nursing, however, restored the young soldier to health, and four months afterwards he applied for reinstatement, and was ap- pointed to his old command. He marched with Sherman to the sea, and was present at the surrender of General Johnston at Durham. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct. At the end of the war he took up the management of real estate, in which he was very successful. He became interested and was a director in many moneyed corpora- tions. He was a strong advocate of the militia system, and for a number of years was colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. Many political honors came to him, among which was the Chairmanship of the Republican County Committee of New York. He was Comptroller of the Trinity Church Corporation from 1880 until his death in 1898, and a trustee of the New York Public Library.
The Old Cruger House at Oscawana on the Hudson
The Boscobel Manor House, Cruger's Point on the Hudson
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Athletics, aquatics, and open-air life appealed strongly to him, and for many years he was one of the leaders of the yachting world. His wife was Julie Grinnell Storrow.
The children of John Peach were Henry Mortimer [1838], John Whetten [1839], who married Frances Eugenia Rusher, by whom he had two children ; Peter Cornee [1843], a Peter Cornee, brave soldier, who gave up his life in the civil war; Soldier James Henderson [1854], who married and had issue ; William Roberts, son of Nicholas IV., who married Mary Boynton, by whom he had one son, Nicholas V.
For two hundred years the Crugers have been notable ele- ments in New York social life. They have been marked by culture, commercial ability, philanthropy, and public spirit. In times of political excitement they have left the counting-house and drawing-room and devoted themselves to their duties as citizens. Where the issue was one to be settled in the arena, they have been fine speakers, good parliamentarians, and, above all, men of sincerity and honesty of purpose. Where the issue had to be decided by war, they freely offered their lives for their country and won an enviable reputation for gallantry and military skill.
Delafield
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Major Joseph Delafield From a steel engraving
VIII
DELAFIELD
HE heroic struggle and final victory of the American colonies aroused sym- pathy and admiration throughout Europe, and nowhere more than in Great Britain itself. The signing of the Treaty of Peace, which made the United States a recognized member of the family of nations, was the sig- nal for an emigration from the Old World in which were many men of the highest standing. Almost at the same time, John Delafield, John Jacob Astor, William Constable, Charles Wilkes, and John Church set sail from Europe for the new land across the sea.
Of the five men, all of whom were destined to make a deep impression in the future home of their adoption, John Delafield was undoubtedly the most distinguished. He belonged John to a family of high social position and proud pedigree. the Founder Genealogically, he was the head of the family, and by descent a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. He was not of Saxon descent, his ancestors having been members of the French nobility, who held rich possessions in Alsace. The very name, Delafield, is the Anglicized form of de la Feld, the name of a barony not far from Colmar, in Alsace. The name is preserved in many ways in the
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old provincial capital of Strasbourg. For centuries the male members of the family were soldiers and courtiers. They loved adventure, and flocked to the standard of every fighting king. Hubertus de la Feld, who was the first of the family to go to England, received a grant of land for his knightly valor in the second year of William the Conqueror.
The pedigree flows in unbroken lines, from the days of Hastings and the Alsatian barons, down to the present generation of the New York family. There is a tradition that John Delafield left England for America on account of an affair of the heart, but there is no evidence to support the theory. What is far more probable, viewed in the light of the man's broad-minded liberality, high culture, and public spirit, is that he came across on account of his love for a political system which should express his own ideals far better than that which prevailed under the British Crown. He was born in 1748 and came to New York in 1773, when but twenty-five years of age. He brought with him considerable wealth, which he employed in establishing a mercantile house a short time after his arrival. He prospered from the first, becoming one of the richest merchants of New York. He retired from business in 1798, but until his death in 1824 took an active part in the management of the corporations of the period. He was President of the United Insurance Company, and a director of the New York Branch of the United States Bank. He may be referred to as one of the fathers of Wall Street.
He had been in the country but a year when he wooed and won Ann Hallett, daughter of Joseph Hallett, a Revolutionary patriot, whose name is preserved in Hallett's Point on the East River, opposite to Hell Gate. The union proved happy and fruitful. There were thirteen children, of whom seven sons and four daughters reached maturity. To the education of his family John devoted his time and thought. He was an enthusiast in such matters, and had a firm belief that culture and intellectual training were the only bases of society and civilization. His chief joy lay in the school achievements and mental progress of his children. His home, according to his friends, had a heavy atmos-
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phere of books, and his social intimates were those who were marked by the highest education.
This theory has both advantages and disadvantages. It tends to produce an intellectual aristocracy, but at the same time it destroys interest in public affairs. It is difficult for a scholar to be at home in the hurly-burly of public life, and more diffi- cult for him to become prominent in civic or national affairs. The history of the family bears out this generalization. For five generations they have been men of exceptional ability, and have attained distinction in the learned professions, but not one has been really prominent in the political affairs of the nation.
In the second generation, John II. [1786] was a merchant and scholar like his father. He was graduated from Columbia College (1802), and married twice. His first wife was his John II. cousin, Mary Roberts, sole child of John Roberts of the Banker Whitchurch, Buckshire, England, and his second, Harriet Wads- worth, daughter of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, by both of whom he had issue. His first marriage was exceedingly romantic, and was used as the basis of Washington Irving's love story, The Wife. He was also a financier, and for many years cashier and President of the Phoenix Bank. With other leading men of the time, he realized the national importance of the farming interests of the country, and devoted much attention to study and work in this field. He was a member, officer, and finally President of the New York State Agricultural Society, whose records show him to have had a masterly knowledge of scientific farming.
Major Joseph, the second son [1790], was a famous scholar, soldier, and scientist. He was graduated from Yale (1808), and admitted to the bar in 1811. On the breaking out of Major Joseph the War of 1812, he enlisted and became Captain, and the Engineer finally Major of the Forty-sixth Infantry. His record was so good that after the restoration of peace he was invited to become a regular, but declined, and resumed the practice of the law, more especially in connection with scientific questions. In these he was so successful that in 1821 he was appointed the Government
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representative for fixing the boundary between the United States and Canada under the Treaty of Ghent.
He held this position for several years, and gave it such thorough attention that he was usually mistaken for one of the engineers on the work. He was so careful in regard to the setting of boundary stones that one of his friends remarked: "Major, you are doing your work so well that after you are dead these boundary stones will be regarded as your monuments." Another scientific confrère added: "And for your epitaph I'll have in- scribed, 'He left no stone unturned for his country.'" He was President of the New York Lyceum of Natural History from 1827 to 1866, and was one of the first to welcome the new schools of thought which were to culminate in Darwin and Wallace. He married Julia Livingston, daughter of Judge Maturin Livingston of Staatsburgh, and Margaret Lewis, daughter of General Morgan Lewis and granddaughter of Francis Lewis, the signer of the Dec- laration of Independence.
Henry and William, the third and fourth sons [1792], were twins. The former married Mary P. Munson, daughter of Judge Munson, while the other remained a bachelor. They were famous beaux in the early part of the century, and were the acknowledged leaders of the social functions of the time.
Dr. Edward, the fifth son [1794], was the most distinguished physician of his time. He was President of the College of Phy- Dr. Edward sicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and emer-
itus professor of obstetrics. He was twice married, his first wife being Elinor Elwyn Langdon, daughter of Thomas E. Langdon and granddaughter of John Langdon, Governor of New Hampshire and President of the Senate of the first United States Congress. By her he had six children. His second wife was Julia Floyd, daughter of Colonel Nicoll Floyd and grand- daughter of General William Floyd. This union resulted in five children.
Major-General General Richard, the sixth son [1798], entered Richard the United States army, and rose to be brigadier-general and chief of engineers. He was twice Superintendent of West
Delafield Mansion, 1861. 77th Street, New York From a print in Valentine's Manual, 1862
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Point, and was the designer of many forts and other public works. He was talented in his calling, and many of his plans, drawings, and studies are still preserved and treasured on account of their scientific and artistic value. During the Civil War he was brevet major-general in command of the defences of Washington, D. C. He married, first, Helen Summers, daughter of Andrew Summers, and, secondly, Harriet Baldwin Covington, daughter of General E. M. Covington, by the latter marriage having seven children.
Rufus King, the seventh son [1802], was a merchant and scholar. He married Eliza Bard, daughter of William Rufus King
Bard, by whom he had six children. the Merchant
The third generation is often called the Columbia generation, on account of the number of its members who attended that uni- versity.
Of the children of John Il. by his first wife, John Ill. was graduated from Columbia in 1830. He married Edith Wallace, daughter of the Rev. Matthew G. Wallace, by whom John III., he had four children. He took the degree of A. M. Lawyer in 1837, was admitted to the bar, and for many years was an active practitioner in New York. Mary Ann married Cornelius Du Bois. Charles married Louisa Potter, daughter of Paraclete Potter.
Of the children of John 11. by his second wife, Tallmadge married Anna A. Lawrence; Clarence, Eliza Paine; and Mary Floyd, the Rev. Dr. Henry A. Neely, Bishop of Maine.
Of the four children of Major Joseph, Julia Livingston did not marry. Lewis Livingston [1834] was graduated from Lewis Columbia (1855), and belonged to the legal profession. Livingston He married Emily Prime, daughter of Hon. Frederick Prime. Maturin Livingston, the second son [1836], was grad- Maturin uated from Columbia (1856), and received the degree Livingston of A. M. in 1860. He was a successful merchant and retired from business many years ago. He married Mary Coleman Livingston, daughter of Eugene Augustus Livingston, and has eight children. He is a member of the American Museum of Natural History, fellow of the American Geographical Society, and a member of
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many learned bodies. He has done considerable work in the world of letters.
Of the children of Dr. Edward, Alice married Howard Clark- son; Dr. Francis was graduated from Yale (1860), and from the Dr. Francis College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia (1863).
the Pathologist From that time on he has been a prominent figure in the medical and collegiate world. He received the degree of LL.D. from Yale, and many honorary and complimentary titles from learned societies. In the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia) he has held the offices of assistant in the medical clinic, professor of pathological anatomy (1868-1875), adjunct professor of pathology (1876-1882), professor of pathology (1882-1892), and professor of the practice of medicine (1892-1900). In addition to these honors, he has been the director of the pathological laboratory of the Alumni Association, and visiting physician of Bellevue Hos- pital. His contributions to medical science have been numerous and valuable. He married Katherine Van Rensselaer, daughter of General Henry Van Rensselaer.
Floyd married Anna Baker ; Katherine Floyd, Edward Wright.
Of the children of General Richard, Harriet Cecil married Edgar J. Shipman; Albert was graduated from the College of the City of Albert, New York (1868), and from Columbia Law School
Lawyer (1870). He was admitted to the bar upon graduation, and took up the practice of law. He married Julia Floyd.
Of the children of Rufus King, Edward married Elizabeth Schuchardt, daughter of Frederick Schuchardt; Richard, Clara Carey Foster, daughter of Frederick Foster; Henry Parish, Elizabeth B. Moran, daughter of Daniel E. Moran, and, thereafter, Marguerite Marie Dewey; Catharine Cruger, John T. Hall.
In the fourth generation of the children of John III., Edith married Christian C. Krebben; Mary, George Sturgis; Cornelia, Rev. Walter Charles Sturgis; and Wallace, Lizzie H. Kamp, daughter
of Richard Kamp. The only child of Charles, the Rev. Walter, married Louisa Eaton.
Of the children of Tallmadge, Tallmadge II. married Anita
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Bogart; Cornelia, Theodore Woodbury; Harriet, Robert Boyd, and Anna L., William G. Cook.
Clarence was represented in this generation by three children: Elizabeth, Clarence 11., and Benjamin Tallmadge.
Of the children of Lewis Livingston, Robert Hare married Anne Shepherd Lloyd. Lewis Livingston 11. was graduated from the Columbia School of Law in 1884 and admitted to the Lewis New York bar. He married Charlotte H. Wyeth, Livingston II. daughter of Leonard Wyeth. Frederick Prime was graduated from Columbia Law School (1888) and enrolled in the legal profession. He married Elsie Barber.
The children of Maturin Livingston were Maturin Livingston Il., who married Lettice Lee Sands, daughter of Charles Sands; Edward Joseph, who married Margaretta Beasley; John; Maturin Julia, who married Frederick H. Longfellow; Eugene Livingston II. C .; Mary, and Harriet Coleman. The children of Dr. Francis were Elizabeth Ray; Julia R. Floyd, who married Frederick V. S. Crosby; Cornelia Van Rensselaer, and Edward.
The children of Edward were Rufus, who married Elizabeth Breese Morse, daughter of Sidney Morse, and Frederick, who married Annie O. Brooks, daughter of Frederick Rufus W. Brooks.
The children of Henry Parish were Eliza Bard and Nina Moran.
In the fifth, or present, generation, there are many who bear the family name. Through marriage, descendants of John Dela- field have the following names: Boyd, Brooks, Clarkson, Cook, Crosby, Dewey, Du Bois, Floyd, Hawkins, Hall, Hull, Neely, Shipman, Sturgis, Woodbury, and Wright.
The family has been marked by great vitality for five genera- tions, and promises to increase for years to come. Its achieve- ments are to be found in the records of colleges, scientific publications, and the archives of learned bodies. It has been conspicuous in the social world from the start, as well as in church circles and charitable work. Most families which have enjoyed wealth and culture for many generations tend to run down in
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intellectual vigor and activity. To this rule the Delafield career is a marked exception. The characteristics of the founder are ap- parently stamped upon the fifth generation as strongly as upon the second. In this regard they form an interesting parallel to the Abbott, Adams, and Lee families.
De Lancer
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Mrs. Ralph Izard ( Alice De Lancey ) From the portrait by Gainsborough
IX
DE LANCEY
HERE are tragic crises in the histories of families, as in the history of na- tions. In the political storms which sweep over every country, and in the merciless excitement attendant upon war, many a distinguished house dis- appears forever, or else emerges shorn James De Lancey 0 of all its splendor in the land where it once ruled. The Revolution was Of the Inner Temple such a storm. When it closed, the victors took the spoils, and the van- quished were driven from their native land or subjected to ostracism for a generation. The present age seems to have forgotten that the uprising of the colonies was not universal. Many historians, and notably Professor Tyler, are of the opinion that the Revolutionists were not even in the major- ity. While we applaud their valor and glory in their success, we are too apt to forget that the Royalists were, in general, as up- right and conscientious in their attitude and conduct as were their opponents. Many of them deserve particular sympathy. When the time came for taking sides, they found their friends and kins- men arrayed in what they believed to be the wrongful cause. On the other side, they saw strangers who treated them with suspicion and often with arrogance and contempt.
They knew that the government of the home country was
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tyrannical and unjust; and they had every reason to believe that, no matter what they might do in the pursuit of duty, they would receive little or no reward for their exertions. It was a corrupt age, and of its corruption they themselves were the best witnesses. They knew full well that the governing classes of Great Britain regarded the colonies as places to be exploited, and the Colonials as subjects with no rights, much less privileges. In the army they saw every day that bribery, influence, and noble blood dis- placed all merit. Hence the Colonials who cast sides with the home government did so without any hope of preferment or social elevation. Of course, there were many who espoused the King's cause in the belief that they would lose less than by taking part with the Revolutionists. There were others whose family ties or personal interests made them hostile to the party of independence. These doubtless were a majority of the Tories of the Revolution; but there were many who believed in the divine right of kings, or in the sacredness of law and order, and who regarded the Revolu- tion as being the wrongful means to a doubtfully right end. In this class may be put the great men who at the time constituted the representatives of the De Lancey family of New York. When, therefore, the sun of royalty went down on the western shores of the Atlantic, the family found itself stripped of the power and prestige which it had enjoyed for generations. All that was left to them was the consciousness that they had done their duty with their best ability, and the reflection that misfortune had befallen them in the administration of human affairs. In such circumstances many a family would have followed the example of thousands who left the new republic and went to the lands still covered by the flag of England. In fact, this course was taken by several branches of the De Lanceys, but others determined to regain the lost laurels of their race, and to become again leaders among their fellow-countrymen. That they succeeded is high tribute to the energy and pertinacity of the blood.
The De Lancey family has a long line of illustrious descent. It dates back to medieval times and includes many courtiers and brave soldiers. As early as 1432 Guy de Lancey, Vicomte de
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Laval et de Nouvion, held several important fiefs in Picardy and the Duchy of Laon. De Lancey is undoubtedly a place name, and is derivable from the town of Lanci, now in Western Switzerland, but in the Middle Age belonging to France. Both districts sup- plied stalwart captains to the princes of the time. The family branched, and the Seigneur Jacques de Lancey embraced the Huguenot faith. His son, Seigneur Jacques II., of Caen, had two children, Etienne (Stephen), the founder of the American house (1663), and a daughter.
Upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Etienne left France, escaping to Holland, whence he went to England, and became a naturalized subject of King James II. He remained in Etienne England long enough to dispose of some family jewels the Founder and other property he had brought from his home. It realized £300 sterling, equal in buying power to about $3000. With this fortune, which was handsome for that time, he embarked for the New World, and landed in New York in 1666. Here he went into business, and by great diligence amassed a fortune said to have been £100,000, which was one of the largest of that period. He married Anne, daughter of the Hon. Stephanus Van Cortlandt, of the Manor of Cortlandt, by whom he had seven children, five sons and two daughters. The ancient records show him to have been a man of great philanthropy and public spirit. He was an Alderman (1691-1693,) and a member of the Provincial Assembly for twenty-four years (1702-1715 and 1726-1737). Here he astonished the Knickerbocker politicians by using his salary for one session to purchase a town-clock, the first New York ever. had. Thereafter, he and his partner imported and presented to the city government the first fire-engine known to the metropo- lis. It was called "De Lancey's Engine" for many years, and was shown as a special wonder to the Indians who came to New York to sell peltries and buy supplies. He was especially kind to Huguenot immigrants, many of whom reached New York penni- less and broken in health. At one time he had ten of his fellow- countrymen under medical treatment in his home, and for every one he secured employment. For those who had a taste for
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commerce he obtained positions in the city among the merchants, while others, who preferred the soil, he sent to the Huguenot farm- ing settlements beyond the Harlem. His wealth enabled him to give his children a superior education, and the social position of himself and his wife made them prominent in local circles from the first. His social relations were also strengthened by the mar- riage of his sister to John Barbarie, one of the leading men of the province.
Stephen, the Huguenot, built and owned one of the few remaining landmarks of old New York. This is Fraunces's Tavern, on the corner of Broad and Dock Streets. The land on which it stands was a part of the Van Cortlandt estate, and was given in 1701 by the Hon. Stephanus Van Cortlandt to his distinguished son-in-law, who built upon it what was considered a magnificent mansion. It was two stories and a half high, and the bricks were imported from Holland. As the city grew northward, the locality lost its fashionable character, and Stephen built a larger and finer home on Broadway, near Trinity Church. The old homestead was sold in 1752 to Samuel Fraunces, who transformed it into a tavern, which he opened under the name of the "Queen Char- lotte." It was for many years the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, and within its walls was spoken the farewell of Washington to his officers in 1783.
The second generation more than sustained the high reputa- tion made by Etienne (or Stephen, as he called himself after be- coming a British subject). Of the two daughters, Susan married Admiral Sir Peter Warren, and Anne the Hon. John Watts.
Of the sons, the ablest was undoubtedly James [1703]. He was educated at home and then sent to England, where he took Judge the usual course at Cambridge, and thereafter studied James law at the Inner Temple, London. He was admitted to the British bar at the early age of twenty-one, and returned to New York the following year. He was a man of striking presence, fine address, and great physical attractiveness. At Cambridge he was called "The Handsome American." His ability, wealth, and social position soon brought him a large and lucrative practice,
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