USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume III, Pt. 1 > Part 23
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DELAFIELD, JOHN, founder of the distinguished New York fam- ily of the name, was at the same time of the most distinguished and ancient lineage and through personal force of character made him- self one of the most eminent of the merchant princes of New York. Having become one of the successful and wealthy merchants of his day, he retired from active business in 1789 and became President of the United Insurance Company, and a director of the New York branch.of the Bank of the United States. He was an eminent mem-
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ber of the Chamber of Commerce, while his mansion opposite Black- well's Island, on the Long Island shore of the East River, was one of the most notable about New York. He was born in England in 174S, came to New York in 1783, and died here July 3, 1824. The oldest son of John Delafield, Esq., of Aylesbury, Bucks, and Martha, daugh- ter of John Dell, he was in the line of primogeniture from John de la Feld, living in the thirty-eighth and forty-third years of Henry III., and, according to Burke, was a " Count of the Holy Roman Empire, as inherited from his great-great-grandfather, John." According to the same, this ancestor, Johni Delafield, born in 1637, " having entered into foreign service participated in the triumphs of Prince Eugene of Savoy, and at the glorious engagement of Zenta against the Turks, led on by the Grand Vizier in person, having taken a standard from the infidels, was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1697, with remainder of the title to his descendants, male and female, of his name." The origin of the English line is given by the same au- thority as follows: " The family of De la Feld descend from the an- cient Counts of La Feld in Alsace, who long resided at the chateau that still bears their name situated in a pass of the Vosges Mountains, three days' journey from Colmar. It is probable that Hubertus De la Feld was the first of his race that emigrated to England, and that he came over with the Conqueror, his name being enrolled as the owner of lands in the County of Lancaster in the third of William I." John, Count Delafield of New York, married, in 1784, Ann, daughter of Hon. Joseph Hallett and Elizabeth Hazard, her father being one of the Sons of Liberty, a member of the Revolutionary Committee of Safety, and a member of the three first New York Provincial Con- gresses. They had thirteen children, seven sons reaching maturity. These were John Delafield, who left issue; Major Joseph, who left male issue; Henry and William, twins, neither of whom left male issue; Dr. Edward, who left male issue; General Richard, who left issue, and Rufus King Delafield, father of the present Richard Dela- field, merchant and banker.
DELAFIELD, JOHN, one of the sons of the first of this name in New York, was a prominent banker. Originally, in 1808, he had established himself in the banking business in London, and, on ac- count of his American citizenship, he was for a time treated as a prisoner during the War of 1812. He also experienced severe finan- cial reverses during this period, leading to Washington Irving's story of " The Wife," which was dedicated to him. In 1820, Mr. Delafield returned to New York City, where he became Cashier and President of the Phoenix Bank. Subsequently he became President of the New York Banking Company. He was one of the founders of the Musical Fund Society, and was the first President of the New York Philharmonic Society .. He was also instrumental in establishing the
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University of the City of New York, as he was in reviving the New York Historical Society. Western repudiations involved him in finan- cial ruin a second time. His declining years were spent near Geneva, N. Y., on his model farm, " Oaklands," and for several years he was President of the New York State Agricultural Society.
DELAFIELD, RICHARD, in 1880, founded the firm of Delafield & Company, of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, engaged in the California trade, and has contiuned at its head to the present time. He has been President of the New York Mercantile Exchange, is Vice-President of the National Park Bank, a trustee of the Colonial Trust Company, and a director of the National Surety Company, the Frankfort-American Insurance Company, the Thuringia American Fire Insurance Company, and the Corporation of Trinity Church. Hc was a member of the Committee of One Hundred in charge of the New York Columbian Quadrocentennial celebration, and was President of the commission of the World's Columbian Exposition of the State of New York for the First Judicial District. He is President of the Sea Side Home of Long Island, and a member of the ExecutiveCommittee of the Varick Street Hospital. Tak- RICHARD DELAFIELD. ing an active interest in the develop- ment of music in the United States, he has been Secretary of the New York Symphony Society, and Presi- dent of the Staten Island Philharmonic Society. He is a vestryman of Trinity Church. and a member of the Union League, Tuxedo. New York Athletic, Merchants', and Commercial chibs, and the Sons of the Revo- Intion. Born in New Brighton. S. I., September 6, 1853, he is the son of the late Rufus King Delafield and Eliza, daughter of William Bard and Katharine Cruger. His father, a brother of the late General Richard Delafield and the late Dr. Edward Delafield, was a prominent New York merchant, while his grandfather, John Delafield, the head of his family both in this country and England, was one of the most eminent merchants and financiers in the history of New York City. Mr. Dela- field married, in 1880, Clara ( Foster) Carey, granddaughter of Philip Hone, eminent in the social and business life of New York City, and its Mayor in 1826.
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DELAFIELD, MATURIN LIVINGSTON, well-known merchant and prominent in the social life of New York City, was born here in 1836, in 1856 was graduated from Columbia College, and four years later received the degree of Master of Arts, and is a member of the Union and Metropolitan clubs, the Sons of the Revolution, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Scientific Alliance, the Columbia College Alumni Association, and other scientific or his- torieal organizations. He married, in 1868, Mary Coleman, daugh- ter of Eugene Augustus Livingston and Harriet Coleman, and bas five sons and three daughters. He is grandson of John Delafield, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, the famous merchant and founder of the New York family, through his second son, Major Joseph Dela- field, and the latter's wife, Julia, daughter of Judge Maturin Living- ston, of Staatsburgh, and Margaret, daughter of General Morgan Lew- is, and granddaughter of Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
DELAFIELD, MATURIN LIVINGSTON, JR., son of the merchant of the same name, is associated with his father in business. He was born in New York City, and is a member of the Union, New York, Badminton, and Torrey Boat clubs, the Downtown Association, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Society of the War of 1812, and the Sons of the Revolution.
MORRIS, AUGUSTUS NEWBOLD, is Vice-President of the Plaza Bank, and a director of the National Horse Show Association and the Coney Island Jockey Club. He is one of the gentlemen who have in- terested themselves in efforts to reform the American turf. He has long been the owner of one of the best-known stables of racing thor- oughbreds. He inherited a large estate, handed down through a line of illustrious ancestors. His beautiful country-seat at Pelham was acquired by New York City as a part of its system of new parks. Mr. Morris was born in Westchester County, June 3, 1838, was graduated from Columbia in 1860, and has been an extensive traveler in Europe and the Orient. He is a member of the directing boards of several institutions of the city. He is a member of the Union and Metropoli- tan clubs, and the Columbia Alumni Association. He married Elea- nor C., daughter of General James I. Jones, and has a son. Newbold Morris, and a daughter, Helen S. Kingsland. IIe is himself the son of the late William H. Morris and Hannah, daughter of Thomas New- bold, of this city; is the grandson of James Morris and his wife, a Van Cortlandt, of Yonkers, and is the great-grandson of General Lewis Morris, signor of the Declaration of Independence.
BELL, ISAAC, was long one of the most eminent and public-spir- ited citizens of New York City, where he was born, August 4, 1815,
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and where he died, September 30, 1897. He was successfully engaged in the cotton trade at Mobile, Ala., during the twenty years subse- quent to 1836, and was a member of the Alabama Legislature, and served on the staff of one of the governors of that State, with the rank of Captain. In 1856 he returned to New York and engaged in the ship- ping business. Two of his vessels, Arago and Fulton, were used as transports by the Federal Government during the Civil War. He was one of the organizers of the New York and Havre Steam Packet Company, and was its President. In 1866 he was a principal founder of the Old Dominion Steamship Company, and for twenty-two years was its Vice-President. Ile was a director of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company. He was the principal founder of the Bellevue Medi- cal College, and was President of its Board of Trustees for thirty years. While he was a prominent member of Tammany Hall, he was one of the stanchest " Union " men in the city during the Civil War; was one of the leaders in organizing the Union Defense Committee of the State, and was its Vice-President, and untiring in its work. The occurrence of the Draft Riots led him to organize in 1863, in con- junction with Leonard Jerome and Paul S. Forbes, the Riot Relief Fund for the city police, and he was its manager until his death. He declined nominations for Mayor and Member of Congress, but served in connection with city institutions. He was a member of the Board of Supervisors, and subsequently became one of the governors of the almshouse, holding the position until the governors were displaced by the creation of the Department of Charities and Corrections, when he became one of the original commissioners, while from 1860 to 1873 he was President of the Board. Ile also served on the Board of Education, as he did on the Board of Immigration Commissioners. Hewas chiefly instrumental in organizing the school jointly controlled by the Charities and School Commissioners. For years he was Chair- man of the Executive Committee of the Normal College, of which he was likewise one of the most active founders. He was a founder of the Manhattan Club, and, at the time of his death, was one of the three senior members of the Union Chib. He married, in 1844, Ade; laide, daughter of the celebrated Dr. Valentine Mott, and had one daughter, the late Mrs. James L. Barclay, and three sons-the late Isaac Bell and the present Louis V. and Edward Bell. He was himself the son of Isaac Bell of Stamford. Conn., and Mary, daughter of John Ellis; was the grandson of Isaac Bell, mill owner of Stamford and · shipping merchant of New York City, who was a loyalist during the Revolution, and subsequently for years was Chamberlain of the city of St. John, N. B., and was descended from Isaac Bell, who, in 1640, emigrated from Edinburgh to Connectient.
BELL, ISAAC, eldest son of the late Isaac Bell and Adelaide, daughter of Dr. Valentine Mott, was born in New York City in 1816,
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and died in 1889. He was successfully engaged in the cotton trade in this city for some time subsequent to the Civil War. He became United States Minister to the Netherlands by the appointment of President Cleveland in 1885. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in St. Louis in 18SS. ITe married, in 1878, Jeanette, danghter of James Gordon Bennett, Sr., and was survived by Mrs. Bell, two daughters, and a son, the present Isaac Bell.
BELL, EDWARD, has for many years been a stockbroker of New York, a member of the Stock Exchange, and is also engaged in the insurance business. He has served on the Board of Park Commission- er's of this city, as well as on the Board of Education. He is also custodian of the Riot Relief Fund for the New York police, which fund was founded by his father and two others in 1863, and of which his father was custodian until his death in 1897. Mr. Bell is a trustee of the Knickerbocker Apartment Company, and a member of the Union, Metropolitan, Manhattan, Democratic, and Shinnecock Golf clubs, and the Downtown Association. He married Helen A., daugh- ter of Henry A. Wilmerding, and has a country-seat at Southampton, L. I. He was born in New York City, and is the third son and the second surviving son of the late eminent Isaac Bell and Adelaide, daughter of the late Dr. Valentine Mott, the famous surgeon.
ORR, ALEXANDER ECTOR, the distinguished grain merchant and eminent public citizen, has been in business in this city and a res- ident of Brooklyn since 1851. At the present time he is President of the Rapid Transit Commission, and an officer of a large number of corporations. He is President of the South Brooklyn Savings Insti- tution. Vice-President of the Mechanics' National Bank, a trustee of the United States Trust Company and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and a director of the Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Company. the Fidelity and Casualty Company, the Guaranty Trust Company. the Title Guarantee and Trust Company, the Franklin Trust Company of Brooklyn, the National Bank of Commerce, the New York Produce Exchange, the New York Produce Exchange Safe Deposit and Storage Company, the Continental Insurance Company, the Union Ferry Company, the Union Ferry Company of New York and Brooklyn, Bartlett & Company, the Union Pacific Railway Com- pany, the Erie Railroad Company, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pa- cifie Railroad Company, the Oregon Short Line Railway Company, and the Junction City and Fort Kearney Railroad. He has been ac- tively connected with the New York Produce Exchange since 1859, and was prominent in its reorganization in 1871-2, and in procuring the erection of its present building. Almost annually between 1871 and 1882 he appeared before committees of the Legislature to urge re- duction of the tolls on the State canals, and in the latter year was a
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member of the Committee of Fifty which demanded free canals. He was one of the commission of four appointed by Governor Tilden in 1875 to investigate the management of the canals, their labors re- sulting in the exposure of the notorious canal frands. He has also served many years as Chairman of the Arbitration Committee of the Produce Exchange. He has been an officer of this Exchange and of the Chamber of Commerce. Although a Republican at the time. in view of his warm personal friendship for Samuel J. Tilden, he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Electoral College in which the vote of this State was cast for Tilden for President in 1876. For many years he has maintained an independent position in politics, and has been active in movements to secure reform in local government in both New York and Brooklyn. He was a member of the Committee of Sev- enty which nominated Mayor Strong in 1894. and a leader in the "Citizen " movement which brought about the nomination of Seth Low for Mayor in 1897. He refused the nomination as Comptroller of Brooklyn offered him by both Republicans and Democrats in 1882, and refused the appointment as Comptroller of New York offered him by Mayor Edson in 1883. He is a patron and trustee of a consider- able number of benevolent or other public institutions of Brooklyn and New York. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, born at Strabane. County Tyrone, Ireland. the son of William Orr. Esq., of that place. and a daughter of David Moore, Esq. of Sheephill, County London- derry. He was educated for a judicial or military commission with the East India Company, but for several years disabled by an acci- dent. Having visited the United States in 1850, the next year he re- turned with letters of introduction to New York business men, and was employed snecessively by Ralph Post, Wallace & Wickes, and David Dows & Company. He has been a member of the latter firm since 1861. JIe has been twice married, and has three daughters.
HOGUET, ROBERT JOSEPH, was born in this city in August, 1839, and from an early age has been connected with the well known firm of Wilmerding. Hoguet & Company, one of the founders of which was his father. the late Henry Lonis Hoguet. He succeeded to his father's interest in the business of this house. He is also a trustee and Secretary of the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, of which his father was for many years President, and is Vice-President of the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank. De is a member of the Merchants' and Catholic clubs. He married Marie Noël, of French descent.
BURDEN, JAMES ABERCROMBIE, President of the extensive Burden Iron Works, of Troy, N. Y., and formerly President of the Hudson River Ore and Iron Company, and of the Engineers' (Inb of
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this city, was a Republican Presidential Elector in 1888, as he was on the Republican ticket of 1880. He occupies his residence in this city during the winter social season. He was born in Troy, N. Y., January 6, 1833, the son of the late Henry Burden, noted inventor and founder of the Burden Iron Works. Having been educated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and having learned the trade of machinist and mill- wright, he entered his father's establishment and worked his way to its head. He is also au inventor, having letters patent for various con- trivances in making horseshoes, making blooms, fettling pud- dling furnaces, heating furnaces, for an inter- mittent mechanical motion, and for sep- arating magnetic ore from its gangne. He is a member of the Pa- triarchs, the Union, Metropolitan, Union League, and Riding elnbs. the Civil Engi- neers' Society, the So- ciety of Mechanical En- giners, the Society of Mining Engineers, and several foreign associa- JAMES ABERCROMBIE BURDEN. tions. He married a daughter of Richard Irvin, a New York merchant, and has four sons -- James A., Jr., Richard Irvin, William P., and Arthur Scott.
CESNOLA, LUIGI PALMA DE, is well known as the discoverer of the Cyprus antiquities and as the author of " Cyprus, its Cities, Tombs, and Temples" (published in London and New York ), while for many years he has been director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. He is a descendant of one of the oldest families of the Pied- mont nobility, and was born in the town of Rivarolo Canavese, Italy. At the age of seventeen he took part in the war against Austria for the independence of Italy, distinguished himself at the battle of Novara in 1849, and was promoted to a lieutenancy on that battlefield for merit. After the war he was sent to the Military Academy of Cherasco for
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two years. At the end of the year 1860, he emigrated to New York. In October, 1861, he joined the Union Army as Major of the Eleventh Regiment, New York Cavalry, was soon promoted to Colonel, and served in this capacity through the Civil War. At the battle of Aldie, Va., he was severely wounded, was taken prisoner, and incarcerated in Libby Prison for nine months. Such was the courage displayed by him in the above-mentioned battle that General Judson Kilpatrick presented him with his own sword. President Lincoln made him Brigadier-General, and at the end of the war appointed him Consul of the United States to Cyprus. During the eleven years of his residence at Cyprus he explored the island and discovered-together with thousands of other objects of great archeological value and impor- tanee-the statues, the inscriptions, the architectural fragments and sarcophagi of Golgoi, and the treasure of Curium, consisting for the most part of gold and silver jewels of magnificent unique workman- ship, all of which are now in possession of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These discoveries have been recognized as forming the con- necting link between the art of ancient Egypt and Assyria and the art of Greece; Sir Henry Layard, the illustrious discoverer of Nineveh, declared that " they add a new and most important chapter to the his- tory of art and archeology." Sir Charles Newton stated that " they have revolutionized all the existing theories upon ancient att." In England, France, Italy, and Germany it was considered " a Enropean misfortune" that these treasures should be sold to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and made less acessible to the savants of the old world. General di Cesnola is a member of many learned societies of Europe and America, including the Academy of Sciences of Turin, the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences of Boston, and the American Institute of Archi- tects. Columbia and Princeton universities have conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. The King of Italy knighted him, also honoring him with a specially coined gold medal appropriately inscribed. In December, 1897, the Congress of the United States presented him with the Congressional Medal.
CROSBY, JOHN SCHUYLER, an officer of the United States army from the outbreak of the Civil War until his resignation in 1871, since that time has held eminent positions in civil life. He has been Gov- ernor of Montana, under President Arthur was Assistant Postmaster- General of the United States, subsequently was United States Consul at Florence, Italy, and still later was School Commissioner of New York City. He received the order of the Crown of Italy with the rank of Chevalier from King Victor Emanuel, and in 1877 received from Secretary John Sherman a gold medal of the first class for life-saving in recognition of his bravery the year previous in saving Edith May from the foundering yacht Mohawk, owned by William A. Garner, and
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his return to the cabin to save Mrs. Garner and Miss Hunter, remain- ing on board until the vessel was under water. He is a member of the Union, Metropolitan, Tuxedo, Knickerbocker, and St. Nicholas elubs of New York City, and the Metropolitan and Country clubs of Washington. He has been presented at the courts of St. James, Rome, and Constantinople. Born at Quedar Knoll, near Albany, N. Y., September 19, 1839, he was educated at the University of the City of New York. In 1859 he crossed South America from Valparaiso to Montevideo. He entered the Union Army as Second Lieutenant of the First New York Artillery, served on the staffs of Banks, Canby, and Sheridan; was once wounded, four times was brevetted for gal -. lantry, and was specially mentioned by President Lincoln for carry- ing dispatches to Farragut through the enemy's country. He is the son of the late Hon. Clarkson Floyd Crosby, a member both of the New York Assembly and Senate, and his wife, Angelica, daughter of Colonel John Schuyler and Maria Miller; is the grandson of William Bedlow Crosby, the wealthy philanthropist of this city, and his wife, Harriet Clarkson, granddaughter of Floyd Clarkson, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and is great-grandson of Dr. Ebenezer Crosby, surgeon of Washington's Life Guards. He married in 1863 Harriet, daughter of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, last patroon of Rensselaerwyck, and great-granddaughter of General Philip Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton. . They have a daughter and a son, Stephen Van Rensselaer Crosby.
CROSBY, ERNEST HOWARD. a lawyer of New York City, was a member of the New York Assembly from ISS6 to 1889, and, while a Re- publican, distinguished himself by his independent course in support of sound legislation and in opposition to that of another character. By appointment of President Harrison he was Judge of the Inter- national Court in Alexandria, Egypt, from 1889 to 1894, resigning during the latter year. He has been active in reform movements and in connection with philanthropic work in this city. He is a member of the Bar Association of the city, and the Sons of the Revolution. He married Fanny Kendall. daughter of the late Henry Maunsall Schief- felin, of New York City. He is the son of the late and eminent Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., grandson of William Bedlow Crosby, who being the son of the favorite niece of Colonel Henry Rutgers, be- came the latter's heir, and was one of the largest owners of real estate : in the United States; is great-grandson of Dr. Ebenezer Crosby, who was graduated from Harvard in 1777; was surgeon in Washington's Life Guards, became a professor in Columbia College, and married Catherine, daughter of William Bedlow and niece of Colonel Henry Rutgers, and is great-great-grandson of Judge Joseph Crosby, of Braintree, Mass.
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