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. II > Part 7
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
He wrote a number of monographs upon various technical subjects connected with the industries in which he was inter- ested. His erudition and technical skill so impressed the com- munity that from the early fifties on he was in constant employment as an expert in patent suits and scientific inquiries by public and private bodies. He married Elizabeth Alice Bre- voort, daughter of Henry Brevoort, by whom he had two sons and one daughter.
Laura, only daughter of Professor James, married John A. Munroe.
Of the children of Robert Jeffrey, William Rhinelander [1816], the oldest son, was graduated from Columbia (1833), and took
up a mercantile career. He was prominent in social, William R. religious, and literary circles. He married Eliza S. Crosby, daughter of William Bedlow Crosby, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. Robert Jeffrey [1822] died un- married at the age of thirty-two.
Frederick William, the third son, was twice married - first to Julia Kortright, by whom he had two sons, and, second, to Annie Cooke.
Jane Jeffrey [1819], the oldest daughter of Robert Jeffrey, married S. Stanhope Callender, by whom she had one child, Mary Renwick Callender. Mary Rhinelander [1825] married Benjamin L. Swan II.
The head of the fifth generation is James Armstrong, oldest son of Henry Brevoort. He was graduated from Columbia
James (1876), where he also obtained the degrees of A.M.,
Armstrong, and of LL.B., from the Columbia Law School in 1879.
Lawyer He is an active member of the New York bar. He married Viola Blodget, daughter of Charles F. Blodget, by whom he had one son, Henry.
William Rhinelander Renwick From a miniature owned by Edmund Abdy Hurry, Esq.
Mrs. William Rhinelander Renwick (Eliza S. Crosby) From a miniature owned by Edmund Abdy Hurry, Esq.
91
Renwick
Meta Brevoort, only daughter of Henry Brevoort, married Robert Sedgwick, by whom she had two sons, Robert J. and Henry Renwick.
Of the children of Edward Sabine, Edward Brevoort [1863], the oldest son, is an accomplished mechanical en- Edward B., gineer. He married Emily Dilworth Hicks. Engineer
William Whetten [1864], second son of Edward Sabine, is an architect and a member of the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen, which was established by his uncle James Ill., William W., architect of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Elizabeth, only Architect daughter and youngest child of Edward Sabine, married Watson Condit Wittingham.
Of the children of William Rhinelander, Philip Brevoort, the oldest son, married Ellen J. Wise, by whom he had one child, Eliza Crosby. She married A. Leland Brown, by whom she had issue.
William Crosby, second son of William Rhinelander, was twice married: first, to Harriet McDonell, by whom he had three children; and, second, to Gertrude Sears. Of the three daughters of William Rhinelander, Emily Ashton mar- William C. ried Edmund Abdy Hurry (November 17, 1868); Mary Crosby married, first, Henry Turnstall Strong, and, second, Dr. Frederick Tilden Brown. Helen Schuyler married Anselm Schaff.
The children of Frederick William are Frederick William II. and S. Stanhope. The latter married Evelyn Smith, by whom he had Harold Stanhope and Claire Rhinelander.
The name of Renwick has for a century been associated with creative intellectuality. It has been borne by philanthropists, merchants, professors, inventors, architects, engineers, and law- yers. It is identified with valuable inventions, standard literary works, magnificent buildings, and the proceedings of learned societies. If the value of achievement is to be measured by the creation of wealth through inventive energy and constructive skill, the family will rank high in the annals of the State. That man is said to be a public benefactor who makes two blades of grass grow where but one grew before. From this point of view
92
Renwick
the inventor is the most valuable member of society. The flower of his brain creates wealth, sometimes for himself, but always for the community at large; and it may be that he who makes wealth for others is higher in the scale of public utility than he who accumulates it for himself. A nation of inventors towers over a nation of plutocrats. The secret of American success has been its creative genius. This in turn has produced wealth and power, and from the smallest beginnings has raised the nation to a commanding place in the society of nations. In this class of forces are to be placed the mental activity and prowess of the Renwick race.
Jean Jeffrey From a picture in the possession of Edmund Abdy Hurry, Esq.
1Roosevelt
93
i
11,5,200 8 gtobouff T
Theodore Roosevelt From a photograph by Rockwood
COPYRIGHT 1099 GEORGE G. ROCKWOOD
Isaac Roosevelt From an india ink drawing in the Emmett Collection, Lenox Library
XXIX
ROOSEVELT
T is hard to lay down any definite stand- ard as to what constitutes a famous family. Sometimes the laurels are won by the achievements of a single individual, which is illustrated in the case of the Washingtons and Frank- lins. At the very opposite extreme are those families in which, genera- tion after generation, men of eminent ability appear, and play a large part in the national life. This is exemplified by the Adams family of Massachu- setts, the Lee family of Virginia, and the Roosevelt family of New York.
In 1649, Claas Martenszen Van Roosevelt came to this coun- try. He was a shrewd, strong, and sterling Hollander, who trans- ferred to the New World the habits of thrift which had been developed by his race in the Old. He was suc- Claas cessful in his undertakings, especially in that of matrimony, his wife being Jannetje Thomas, a young belle of the New Nether- lands, whose personal charms were rivalled by her skill in spin- ning, weaving, cooking, and housekeeping. The union was a happy one, and resulted in many children, all of whom seemed to inherit their parents' virtues-moral, mental, and physical. Small families, indeed, have been the rare exception with the Roosevelts.
95
96
Roosevelt
Owing to this fact it has extended in every direction, and by marriage has become connected with nearly every other old family both in New York City and in New York State.
The most prominent member of the second generation was Nicholas of Esopus, who married Hillotje Jans, sister of Anneke Jans of Trinity Church fame. In this generation the Nicholas family began to add intellectual to agricultural talents. Nicholas was a student, and by all odds the most learned and most popular man in his district. He is referred to by the old records as a citizen of great influence and authority, and one who frequently served as an arbitrator between his stiff-necked and litigious neighbors. He was one of the first settlers to perceive the business aspect of the Indian question, and during his life was on the most friendly terms with the red men. He invited them regularly to his house, and invariably made them presents when they called. For many years to his neighbors this seemed ex- travagance, but their eyes were opened when they learned that in Indian etiquette whoso receives a present from a friend must give back one of greater value. The gala-colored ancient weapons which Nicholas presented to the warriors came back to him in furs, which brought ten times the value of his gifts in the markets of New Amsterdam. That he was very prosperous is shown by formal charges that were brought by gossipers against his wife Hillotje and her sister Anneke for wearing and showing luxurious petticoats. Nicholas took the part of the women, and after the proceedings were dismissed he authorized his dress-loving wife to purchase another large roll of beautiful cloth to increase still fur- ther her stock of brilliant skirts.
Of the third generation, Johannes appears to have been the ablest. Early in the eighteenth century he married Hyltje Syverts,
a belle and heiress. He was successful in farming and Johannes
business ventures, and took what seemed to his friends a strange and extravagant delight in works of art. He is said to have been one of the first to import paintings, fine furniture, and artistic metal ware from the Netherlands. He did it on so gener- ous a scale that his home was viewed as a wonderland by his less
The Administration Building Roosevelt Hospital
97
Roosevelt
enterprising fellow-citizens. In this generation the family became allied with the Schuylers through the marriage of Sarah Van Roosevelt, a niece of Johannes, to Philip Schuyler. In the fourth generation were several sons, of whom Jacobus [1724]
was the most notable. He married Annetje Bogaert, Jacobus and had a large family. In Jacobus, the Dutch characteristics had changed so far that he may be regarded as an American in the modern sense of the word. He began to drop the Van from his name, and in other ways showed his Anglicization. He was a stout believer in freedom and home rule, and was looked upon as a Dutch malcontent by many of the British colonial officers. He was diplomatic and never permitted himself to do anything which could be construed into a violation of law. He attended to his commercial interests with great care and largely increased the for- tune which he had inherited.
The fifth generation seems to have been the crucial point in the family history. Up to that time the various generations had confined themselves to agriculture, trading, and the management of real estate. The race was now represented in its own names by at least fifty families, which, as a whole, were more than pros- perous, capable, and prominent. The simple farmers of the first and second generations had become educated and cultured men so far as the opportunities of the time permitted. The Revolution seemed to stir up their blood and to bring into being the higher qualities which are represented by patriotism, executive power, and statesmanship. In this period the first to be noticed is Jacobus II., afterwards known as James I., James his brother Nicholas, who invented the steamboat at about the same time as Fulton; Captain John J., a Nicholas brilliant and wildly reckless soldier; and Isaac, who afterwards became State Senator. There were others, who were brave soldiers and faithful representatives of the people, John J. but the four enumerated stand head and shoulders Isaac above the rest. Jacobus or James I. is often mistaken for his son James 1. (11.), who was a member of Congress, a judge, and one of the great jurists of New York State. The elder VOL. II .- 7.
98
Roosevelt
was a good soldier, a capable commissary, and an admirable organizer.
Nicholas was America's first great inventor. He had extraor- dinary versatility and an almost tireless energy. He was a skilful Nicholas mining engineer and metallurgist, as well as machinist, the Inventor and was the first to work copper on a large scale in the United States. As contractor and ship-builder, he was engaged by Congress to superintend the building of a new navy in the eighteenth century. He was a civil engineer, and carried through contracts for supplying the city of Philadelphia with water. In this busy period he found time to prosecute studies in the then unknown field of steam engineering, and reached the same con- clusions that Fulton did a few years afterwards. He submitted his researches in 1797 to Chancellor Livingston and to Colonel Ste- vens, who formed a partnership with him to build a boat on joint account. This was done, and in October, 1798, the new venture was tried. The engines worked perfectly, but the propelling gear, which had been designed by Livingston, proved a failure. Roose- velt was not, however, discouraged, but kept on until he had de- vised an efficient vertical paddle-wheel in place of the cumbrous contrivance of the Chancellor. The new design was tried upon the Ohio River, where it worked satisfactorily. In 1811, he built the first steamer to ply upon the Mississippi, so that he may be justly called the father of Mississippi navigation. Nicholas married Miss Lydia M. Latrobe. Of his descendants, Samuel Montgomery is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and the late Nicholas III. was a lieutenant in the United States Navy.
Jacobus or James I. married Mary Van Schaick. Among their children, two were highly distinguished in the beginning of the nineteenth century, Cornelius Van Schaick and James II. Cornelius Van Schaick The former, who married Margaret Barnhill of Pennsyl- vania, was a merchant, banker, and capitalist. He was one of the five richest men in New York, and took a deep interest in the wel- fare of the city. He founded the famous Chemical Bank, the only bank in the country which has always paid its obligations in gold. He had five sons, all of whom were important figures in the mid-
99
Roosevelt
dle part of the last century. These were Silas W., lawyer, wit, and School Commissioner; James Alfred, banker and capitalist; Cornelius Van Schaick II., merchant; Robert B., lawyer, author, editor, Commissioner of the first Brooklyn Bridge, Congressman, and United States Minister; and Theodore, merchant, War Com- missioner, and philanthropist. The history of these five sons covers the most important years from 1850 to the present time. Each contributed in his own way to the metropolis, Silas W. and stamped his name upon its history. Silas W. was
a New York School Commissioner in deed as well as in name. He took an interest in educational work before he received his appointment, and may be classed as a member of the school of thought started by Horace Mann. When he accepted office he brought all his energy to bear upon the problem of books and methods, and infused a new spirit into the proceedings of the Board. The present admirable condition of the public schools and the high standards which mark all tuition in the city are under obligations to his faithful and efficient services. James Alfred, the banker, had a natural genius for finance. He was admitted to his father's firm when only twenty years of age, and while still in the prime of life had become an officer or director in a score of great financial institutions. He was Park Commissioner during the administration of Mayor Strong.
Robert B., born in 1829, is still a hale and hearty member of the community. He received a fine liberal education, studied law, and practised in New York for twenty years. He was successful in that profession and was one of the Robert B.
most popular members of the bar thirty years ago. He was versatile and made his mark in many fields. A fluent writer, he served as an editor of the New York Citizen and wrote a number of books upon fish, birds, and other similar topics. He took an active part in politics, served in Congress, and was one of the leaders of the National Democracy. The life-work by which he will be longest known was that devoted to the game interests of the State and nation. He took up the task, an almost novel field, and struggled in the beginning against many
100
Roosevelt
odds. By degrees he created and organized sentiment on behalf of the game birds and the fisheries of the State and secured much of the legislation which has preserved the fin and feather interests of the community. He served acceptably as Commissioner of Fish- eries of New York, did much toward the restocking of the rivers, lakes, and streams of the commonwealth, the establishment and development of fish culture, the interchange of valuable fish fry, and the protection of waters from the refuse of cities and factories. To the angler and the sportsman he will be always regarded as the Izaak Walton of America. He was one of the famous Committee of Seventy which started the movement that resulted in the downfall of Tammany and Tweed, and has always been identified with the best interests of the municipality.
Theodore, the fifth of the brothers, was a brilliant Unionist during the war and one of the Allotment Commissioners. Upon the restoration of peace, he took up practical philan- thropy and devoted himself to the cause of the poor and ignorant. He was one of the founders of the Newsboys' Home and the other homes which grew out of the first one, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Orthopedic Hospital, and the Children's Aid Society. He married Miss Martha Bulloch of Georgia. Their son was Theodore II.
Theodore I.
Theodore [1858] was educated at Harvard (1880), where he displayed marked literary, scholarly, and athletic talents. The following year he entered political life and was elected to the As- sembly from the 21st District, New York City. He served until 1884. In 1886, he was nominated for Mayor, but was defeated by Abram S. Hewitt. Three years afterwards he was appointed Civil Service Commissioner by President Harrison and served until May, 1895. He was chosen Assistant Secretary of the Navy in President McKinley's Cabinet in 1897. At the breaking out of the war with Spain, he resigned his position and entered the United States Army. He raised a regiment of Rough Riders, but instead of taking the command, as is the custom in such cases, he re- quested the President to appoint his personal friend, Dr. Leonard Wood, Colonel, and himself Lieutenant-Colonel.
IOI
TRoosevelt
He and his men were in the army of invasion which landed at the eastern end of Cuba and took part in the first engagement between the American and Spanish forces. Both he and his Rough Riders made a famous record for gallantry during the brief cam- paign. The same year he was elected Governor of the State of New York. In 1900, he was chosen Vice-President of the United States and took office on March 4, 1901. On the death of Mr. McKinley, September, 1901, he became President.
He is a man of indefatigable industry, and in the last twenty years has contributed largely to the press and added twelve valu- able works to American literature. He married Alice Lee of Bos- ton, and, after her death, Edith Carow of New York. By the first he had one child, and by the second, five.
James Henry of the sixth generation has left a monument in the Roosevelt Hospital. It was the realization of his life ambition. Born in 1800, he was graduated from Columbia Col- lege, and took up the practice of law with the ambition James Henry of founding the charity described. To this he subordinated all other interests. He never married, and allowed nothing to swerve him from his path. He died in 1863, leaving a million dollars for a foundation. This, through the wise management of his trustees, was so administered that, in 1888, the hospital and its endowment represented over two millions of dollars. His epitaph is written upon the tablet which records the gift : "To the memory of James Henry Roosevelt, a true son of New York, the generous founder of this hospital, a man upright in his aims, simple in his life, sub- lime in his benefactions."
Considerable impression upon New York City has been made by the so-called Pelham branch, established by Elbert [1767] of the sixth generation. He had six sons and two daugh- ters. Of the former, Clinton, the inventor and scientist,
Elbert was the chief of his generation. Peter T. and Albert J. were men who led long and eventful lives; the former died at the age of ninety-six, and the latter at eighty-eight. Washington [1802] was a scholarly Presbyterian divine, who was graduated from Middlebury, Conn., in 1829. He married Jane Maria Young, by
IO2
IRoosevelt
whom he had four sons and one daughter. The oldest of the sons was Charles Henry [1832], who married Annie J. Jackson, by whom he had two sons, Henry Everitt and Albert Curtenius. Charles Henry has long been one of the leading citizens of West- chester County.
Here and there, in the family history, have been indications of mechanical and inventive talent. In addition to Nicholas, who was the greatest in this respect in his generation, and Clinton, who was President of the Society of Inventors, was Hilborne Lewis, who was born in 1849, and died when but thirty-seven years of age. He displayed mechanical genius in his boyhood, and entered an organ-factory in early youth. He mastered all that could be learned in this country, and then went to Europe to gain an insight into the artistic, scientific, and historic features of the craft. He was one of the first to take up electric apparatus for organ-manufacture. In a few years he developed it to an ex- tent never before known. On his return to America he estab- lished organ-factories in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and within five years had become one of the authorities on the subject. Many of his constructions enjoy a world-wide fame among musicians. His chief ones are those in the Protestant Epis- copal Cathedral at Garden City, L. I., and in Grace Church, New York, each of which contains twenty miles of electric wires. He built the famous organ for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. He received letters patent for improvements in organ-building, electrical apparatus, and telephony. His chief electrical invention was a telephone switch, which was adopted by telephone com- panies the world over.
IRutgers
103
Colonel Henry Rutgers From a steel engraving
1
XXX
RUTGERS
O the student of New York history, each family name is identified with a set of virtues or a group of achieve- ments. That of Rutgers suggests a warm-hearted public spirit and a deep love for humanity. It is one of the first of Knickerbocker names. On Oc- tober 1, 1636, Rutgers Jacobsen Van Schoenderwoerdt set sail at Texel, Holland, on board the good craft Rensselaerswyck, commanded by Cap- tain Jan Tiebkins, for the New Nether- lands. The quaint name is eloquent. Schoenderwoerdt is a pretty village not far from Leerdam, and Jacobsen, or Jacobse, means that Rutgers was the son of Jacob. The family belonged to the great middle class of Holland, which Rutgers Jacobsen, Founder had fought both man and the sea for generations and had developed a stalwart manhood, which is even to-day the admiration of the civilized world. The virtues, private and public, are developed not in ease and idleness, but under the pressure of danger and of death. Great men never come from Sybaris.
The voyage was uneventful, and early in the following year Rutgers landed at Fort Orange, where he immediately set to work to change the wilderness into a fertile domain. He labored long and late, and enjoyed a proportionate reward. His fields
105
106
Rutgers
brought rich harvests and his trading ventures proved profitable. Not until he was a wealthy man did he look about him for a help- meet. This occurred in 1646, when he married Tryntje Jansse Van Breesteede. In 1649, he formed a partnership with Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick and founded a brewing business. Accord- ing to the old records, he turned out an admirable quality of beer, so excellent that it was used by the churches of the time at the feasts or repasts which were given in connection with funerals and weddings.
Even in this prosaic business he displayed a kindly heart. Whenever a poor family was unable to purchase the beer without which the funeral ceremonies were incomplete, he would send a cask of his best brew to the house of mourning. By 1660, he had become very rich. About this time he was appointed a magis- trate and conducted the office up to his death with dignity and ability. His last public office was the laying of the corner-stone of the new church in Albany in 1656.
Two of his children were prominent in Knickerbocker life. His daughter Margaret married Jan Jansen Bleecker (1667), and became the maternal ancestor of the Bleecker family. Her hus-
Harman band Jan was Mayor of Albany in 1700. Harman, the
the Trader only son, took after his father. He was an active man of affairs, and conducted successfully the brewery, the real-estate business, an Indian trade in furs and skins, and the farms which he inherited. When clouds appeared upon the political horizon, and an Indian uprising was threatened, he promptly volunteered and became a private in the Burgher Corps, bringing with him, it is said, a number of the muscular workmen in his brewery. He continued his father's practice of supplying beer to the church funerals, and, like his father, he contributed a friendly cask to poor neighbors who were in mourning. So far as can be inferred from the records of the time, the custom known as " church beer " seems to have been analogous to the modern wake, and both are undoubtedly survivals of a custom very prevalent among the early Christians. In 1693, the Indians became so threatening near Albany, that Harman removed with his family to New York. He
IO7
Rutgers
married Catarina de Hooges, daughter of Anthony de Hooges, Provincial Secretary of Rensselaerswyck, by whom he had issue.
In the third generation, Elsie, daughter of Harman, married David Davidse Schuyler, at one time Mayor of Albany. Anthony, the oldest son, was a wealthy brewer, who took an Anthony the active part in public affairs. In 1710, 1711, 1712, he was Assemblyman an Assistant Alderman, and from 1727 to 1734 an Alderman. From 1726 to 1737 he was a member of the Colonial Assembly. The last was a representative body, and included such men of promi- nence as Henry Beekman, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Robert Livingston, Jr., Stephen de Lancey, Frederick Philipse, Peter Van Brugh, Benjamin Hicks, Nicholas Schuyler, and Lewis Mor- ris. Anthony's intellectual grasp was well shown by an under- taking which in the light of to-day was an enterprise of the highest merit.
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.