USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume III, Pt. 1 > Part 6
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GOELET, PETER, founder of the fortunes of the well-known fam- ily of this name although in the fourth generation of the family in this city, was born in 1727, and became one of the most wealthy and prominent merchants of New York. Originally in partnership with Peter T. Curtenius, for many years subsequent to 1763 he conducted the business alone. He was an importer of hardware and cutlery, and was also one of the first in the city to import violins, guitars, flutes, and other musical instruments. His place of business was in Hanover Square. He was a member of New York's first "Com- mittee of Fifty " (literally, fifty-one), or Committee of Correspond- ence, appointed in May, 1774, to resist British oppression. He was also a member of the Committee of One Hundred of 1775, which had charge of local affairs, and issued the call for a Provincial Congress. upon receipt of the news of the Battle of Lexington. He married in 1755 Elizabeth Ratse, daughter of another wealthy merchant of the city. He was himself the son of John Goelet and Jannetje, daugh- ter of Jean Cannon, a New York merchant of French Huguenot de- scent; was the grandson of Jacobus Goelet and Jannetje Coessar, both of Huguenot descent, and was the great-grandson of Francis Goelet, of a family which had removed from La Rochelle, France, to Amsterdam, Holland, as early as 1621. Francis reached New York in 1676, accompanied by his son, Jacobus, then ten years of age. Es- saying to return to Holland on business soon after, Francis was lost at sea, while his son was brought up in the family of Frederick Phil- lipse, the most opulent of the New York merchants of his day, and the first lord of Phillipse manor.
GOELET, PETER P., son of Peter Goelet and Elizabeth Ratse, in- herited from his father considerable real estate, which rapidly in- creased in value, and to which he added by judicious investment. He was born in New York City in 1764 and died in 1828. In 1799 he married Alny, daughter of Thomas Buchanan, one of the leading merchants of this city and a member of the Revolutionary Commit- tee of One Hundred of 1775. They had two sons-the late Peter
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HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
and the late Robert Goelet-and two daughters-Jean B. and Han- nah, wife of the late Captain Thomas Gerry, U.S.N., and mother of the present Elbridge Gerry.
GOELET, PETER, eldest son of Peter P. Goelet and Almy Buchan- an, was born in New York City in 1800 and died in 1879. He was one of the largest holders of real estate in New York, and was an officer of various financial institutions. He was one of the founders of the Chemical Bank. During the Civil War he contributed liberally in aid of the sick and wounded Union soldiers. He resided in the old Goelet mansion on Broadway, at the corner of Nine- teenth Street, and indulged his mechanical genius in the frequent forging of ingeniously contrived locks and other inventions, having established a forge in the basement. He never married, and left the bulk of his fortune to his nephews, the present Robert Goelet and the late Ogden Goelet.
GOELET, ROBERT, the younger of the two sons of the late Peter P. Goelet and Almy Buchanan, and who alone married and left issue. was born in this city .in 1809 and died in 1879. In his business relations he was closely associated with his brother Peter, their for- tunes being largely invested in real estate in New York City, of which they were extensive owners. They were also among the founders and first officers of the famous Chemical Bank. Robert Goelet married Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Ogden, of the notable New Jersey family of that name. His two sons, the present Rob- ert Goelet and the late Ogden Goelet, have long been among the most prominent citizens of New York City.
GOELET, ROBERT, the present head of one of the most prominent of the old New York families, is the eldest son of the late Robert Goelet and Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Ogden, was born in New York City, September 29, 1841; in 1860 was graduated from Colum- bia College, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He has never practiced his profession, but has devoted himself to directing the business policy in connection with the large estates inherited by himself and his brother, the late Ogden Goelet, who were heirs not only of their father, but of their uncle, Robert Goelet, who died in 1879. He has been a pioneer among the inheritors of extensive real estate holdings in this city in erecting notable and attractive build- ings, from an architectural standpoint, npon the properties under his control. He is also an officer of some of the most powerful finan- cial institutions of the city. He is a trustee of the Union Trust Company and the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, and a director of the Chemical National Bank, the Bank of New Amsterdam, the Guaranty Trust Company, and the Metropolitan
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
Opera and Real Estate Company. His father and his uncle were among the founders of the Chemical Bank, while he was himself in 1887 one of the founders of the Bank of New Amsterdam, estab- lished with a financial policy similar to that which has given the older institution its novel pre-eminence. He has country places at Newport, R. I., and Tuxedo, N. Y. His steam yacht, Nahma, is one of the most magnificent pleasure palaces afloat. He is a member of the Patriarchs, the Union, Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, Tuxedo, Racquet, Players', New York Yacht, and Southside Sportsmen's clubs, the City Bar Association, the Uptown Association, the St. Nich- olas and Holland societies, and the Columbia Alumni Association .. IIe is also a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, the Philadelphia Club of Philadelphia, and the Royal Clyde Yacht and Royal Northern Yacht clubs -of Glasgow, Scotland. He married in 1879 Henrietta Louise, daughter of the late George Henry Warren, Sr., an eminent lawyer of this city, and of Mary Caroline, daughter of Hon. Jonas Phillips Phoenix, and has a son, Robert Walton Goelet, and a daughter, Beatrice.
GOELET, OGDEN, the younger son of the late Robert Goelet and Sarah Ogden, was born in New York City, June 11, 1846, and died on board his yacht, Mayflower, at Cowes, England, August 27, 1897. He gave much attention to the management of the large estates inherited by himself and his brother, and was prominent as a patron of yachting. The most important annual prizes for sloops and for schooners racing in American waters are the Goelet Cups, which he gave to the New York Yacht Club in 1882. He also gave a num- ber of prizes for races in European waters, one of which was won by the Prince of Wales's Britannia. At one time the owner of the fast schooner yacht Norseman, more recently he built the Mayflower, which, when launched in 1896, had few rivals among luxurious steam yachts, and added the novel feature of mounting six rapid- fire guns. This eraft was acquired by the United States Govern- ment for the war with Spain, and equipped as a torpedo-destroyer. Mr. Goelet was a member of the Patriarchs, and of the Union, Metro- politan, Knickerbocker, Tuxedo, Racquet, Riding, Players', New York Yacht, Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht, Westminster Kennel, and Southside Sportsmen's clubs, as well as of the Royal Yacht Squad- ron and other European clubs. He married in 1877 Mary E., eldest daughter of Richard T. Wilson, well-known banker of this city, and had a son, Robert Goelet, and a daughter, Mary. Ilis widow and both children survive him.
REMSEN, HENRY, born in Brooklyn, April 5, 1736, died in New York City, March 13, 1792, was one of the largest drygoods importers of his day, establishing the firm of Henry Remsen & Company. Hle
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HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
was one of the incorporators of the New York Society Library. He was active against British aggression during the Revolutionary pe- riod, and in 1774 was one of the Committee of One Hundred, of which Isaac Low was Chairman. As Deputy Chairman, on May 18, 1775, Remsen signed the address of the General Committee to Lieutenant- Governor Colden. In 1776 he aided the Provincial Congress by im- porting supplies for the patriot troops. He retired to Morristown, N. J., during the British occupation of New York City, subsequently returning and resuming business. He married, in 1761, Cornelia, daughter of Charles Dickenson, and had nine children who reached maturity, although but two of them were ever married. He was the son of Hendrick Remsen, also a New York merchant; was the grand- son of Rem Remsen, the great-grandson of Reni Vanderbeeck Remisen, and great-great-grandson of Rem Jansen Vanderbeeck, who early im- migrated to New Amsterdam from Holland, and here married a daughter of Joris Jansen de Rapalie.
REMSEN, HENRY, son of Henry Remsen and Cornelia Dickenson, became his father's partner in the drygoods importing business in New York City under the firm style of Henry Remsen & Son. This was in 1790. Three years later he was appointed Teller in the United States Bank. In 1799 he became Cashier of the Manhattan Company, the second corporation in New York City to engage in the banking busi- ness, while from 1808 to 1826 he was President of this institution. He was Secretary to John Jay in 1786, when the latter was Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Congress of the Thirteen Colonies. He was also Private Secretary to Thomas Jefferson when the latter was See- retary of State in the Cabinet of President John Adams. He was born in New York City, November 7, 1762, and died in February, 1843. Hle married, in 1808, Eliza, daughter of Captain Abraham R. de Peys- ter, and had four sons and five daughters.
REMSEN, CHARLES, is a director of the Third Avenue Railroad Company, of the Forty-second Street, Manhattanville and St. Nicholas Avenue Railway, of the Dry Dock, East Broadway and Battery Rail- road Company, and of the Empire City Traction Company. He was born in New York City. February 7, 1856, and was educated at the University Grammar School in this city, at Princeton College, and at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is the son of the late William Remsen and Jane, daughter of JJohn Suydam, and is the grandson of Henry Remsen and Eliza de Peyster. On the ma- ternal side he descends from Henydryck Rycken von Zuutdam, who emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in 1663.
LEWIS. MORGAN, third Governor of the State of New York (see cut, Volume II., of this work, page 439), was born in this city in 1754,
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
and died April 7, 1844. He was graduated from Princeton College, enlisted in the New York Militia, and marched to Boston after the Battle of Lexington. Returning to New York he raised a regiment. Hle was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. After the Revolution he practiced law in New York City, becoming one of the leaders of the bar. He married a sister of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston. He was elected to the Assembly, subsequently becoming Judge of the Dutchess County Court of Common Pleas. In 1791 he was appointed Attorney-General of the State, succeeding Aaron Burr, who had been elected to Congress. In 1801, Lewis was appointed Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court. In 1801 he defeated Aaron Burr as a candidate for Governor of New York, through the fact that Alex- ander Hamilton, of Burr's party, exerted his influence against Burr. The foundation of the present common school fund was laid during the administration of Lewis, the Legislature acting on his suggestion that 1,500,000 acres of the public lands be set aside for this purpose. Governor Lewis served as a Brigadier-General during the War of 1812.
TOMPKINS, DANIEL D., fourth Governor of the State of New York (see cut, Volume II., of this work, page 183), was born in Scars- dale, Westchester County, N. Y., June 21, 1774, and died at his home on Staten Island, June 11, 1825. He was graduated from Columbia College at the head of his class in 1795, studied law with Peter Jay Muuro, and practiced in New York City. He married a daughter of Alderman Minthorne, and became active in politics as a Republican. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1801, and subse- quently to the Assembly. In 1804 he was elected to Congress, but did not take his seat, accepting his appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court, serving until 1807. In 1806 he declined an appoint- ment as Justice of the United States District Court for New York. In the spring of 1807, when thirty-two years of age, he resigned from the Supreme Court bench to accept his nomination as Governor of New York, and was elected, defeating Governor Morgan Lewis. He served in this office, by continuous re-elections, until 1817, when he resigned to take the oath of office as Vice-President of the United States. He was re-elected Vice-President in 1821. As Governor he energetically supported President Madison throughout the War of 1812, and during the exciting years preceding the war. To prevent the incorporation of the Bank of North America in 1812, he prorogued the Legislature for the first and only time in the history of the State. This action was not popular, and failed to gain the desired end. In 1816, Governor Tompkins strongly advocated the construction of the Erie Canal. In his later years he resided on Staten Island. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1821 from Richmond County, and was the President of the Convention.
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HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
CLINTON, DE WITT, was Mayor of the City of New York during the years 1803-7, 1808-10, and 1811-15, while he was Governor of the State of New York from 1817 to 1823, and from 1825 until his death, February 11, 1828. He was born in Little Britain, Orange County, N. Y., March 2, 1769, the son of General James Clinton, of the Revo- lution, and the nephew of George Clinton, the first Governor of the State of New York, who held that position during the years 1777-95, 1801-1. and was Vice-President of the United States from 1804 to April 20, 1812, dying in office. De Witt Clinton was graduated from Columbia College at the head of his class in 1786, and served as Secre- tary to Governor George Clinton from 1789 to 1795. He was elected to the Assembly from the City of New York in 1797, and the following year was elected to the Senate. In. 1801. he was made a member of the Council of Appointment. As State Senator he advocated a con- stitutional amendment providing for the election of President and Vice-President of the United States by dividing each State into dis- triets, in each of which one Presidential Elector should be designated by popular vote. He was elected to the United States Senate from New York, February 4, 1802, but resigned at the end of two years to become Mayor of New York City. He was State Senator between 1805 and 1812, while in 1810 he became a member of the commission which recommended the construction of a State canal connecting the Hudson River with the Great Lakes. In 1812 he received eighty-nine electoral votes as candidate for the Presidency of the United States against James Madison. In 1816 he organized a great mass meeting in New York City, which petitioned the Legislature in favor of the Erie Canal. The Legislature author- ized the project, and appointed Clinton one of five Commissioners to carry out the enterprise. He was Governor dur- ing most of the period of construction, as he was when the canal was com- pleted. Ilis contribution, in this way, to the commercial supremacy of New York City can scarcely be overestimated. De Witt Clinton was the third son by his father's first wife, Mary De Witt. His grandfather, Charles Clinton, immi- grated to America from Ireland, and was in turn the great-grandson of Henry Clinton, second Earl of Lincoln, and also descended from the Kennedys. Earls of Cassilis. Admiral George Clin- DE WITT CLINTON. ton, Colonial Governor of New York from 1743 to 1753, and Sir Henry Clinton, British General during the Revolution, were of the same family.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
CLINTON, CHARLES WILLIAM, one of the prominent architects of New York City, has served seven years as Vice-President of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and has given to the city a number of its most notable buildings, of which the Seventh Regiment Armory and the Mutual Life Insurance Build- ing are examples. Ile is a director of the Clinton Apartment Company, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Architectural League, and the Municipal Art Society, and likewise a member of the Tuxedo and New York Yacht clubs, and the Century Association. He was born and educated in this city, studying architecture under the late Richard Upjohn. He was long a member of the Seventh Regiment, and during the Civil War three times volunteered when it was called - into active service __ He is the son of the late Dr. Alexander Clinton and Adeline Arden, daughter of Alexander James Hamilton, a Brit- ish officer. Governor De Witt Clinton was his grand-unele. His great- grandfather was General James Clinton of the Revolution, elder broth- er of Governor George Clinton, while the first ancestor in this country, Charles Clinton, was a descendant of Henry, second Earl of Lincoln.
RHINELANDER, PHILIP JACOB, founder of the New York fam- ily of this name, was of Huguenot descent, but was born near Ober- wesel, on the Rhine, over which district France then exercised sover- eighty. Two of his descendants, Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhineland- er and Philip Rhinelander, the sons of William Rhinelander, of this city, have in recent years purchased for an Enropean country-seat the ancient Schonberg Castle at Oberwesel, overlooking the home and lands of their ancestors. Emigrating to New York in 1686, Philip Jacob Rhinelander settled at New Rochelle, Westchester County, where he acquired considerable property. He died in 1737.
RHINELANDER, WILLIAM, one of the three sons of Philip Jacob Rhinelander, of New Rochelle, established himself as a mer- chant in New York City, and is the ancestor of the members of the family who have been prominent. He was born in New Rochelle in 1718 and died in this city in 1777, being buried in Trinity church- yard. His residence on Spruce Street was upon land which is still owned by the family. He was an importer of crockery at Burling Slip, and established the precedent of investing his estate in city realty. He married Magdalen, daughter of Stephen Renaud, of New Rochelle.
RHINELANDER, WILLIAM, son of the merchant of the same name, and grandson of the original Philip Jacob Rhinelander, was born in this city in 1753 and died in 1825. He was his father's partner and successor in the importing business, and continued his policy of investing in city realty. In 1790 he purchased the Cuyler sugar house in this city, which was sold under forfeiture, having been used as a British prison during the Revolution, and added greatly to the
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HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
family fortunes as a sugar refiner. He married in 1785 Mary, daugh- ter of Christopher Robert and Mary Dyer, sister of Colonel Robert, a Continental officer in the Revolution, and great-granddaughter of Daniel Robert and Susanne du Gaillean, Huguenots who emigrated to America in 1686. They had two daughters-Mrs. Horatio Gates Stevens and Mrs. Robert J. Renwick-and five sons: Philip Rhine- lander, who married Mary Colden Hoffman, and had issue; William Christopher Rhinelander, father of the present William Rhinelander, and grandfather of T. J. O. and Philip Rhinelander; John Robert Rhinelander, who married but left no issue; Frederick William Rhinelander, whose son and grandson of the same name are well- known New Yorkers, and Bernard Rhinelander, who married Nancy Post.
RHINELANDER, WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER, second son of William Rhinelander and Mary Robert, was born in this city in 1790 and died in 1STS. The large estate, which he inherited, was greatly increased by his skillful management and wisdom in making invest- ments, the family policy of holding and improving city real estate being closely adhered to. During the War of 1812 he was Quarter- master in Colonel Stevens's regiment, and rose to the rank of Lieuten- ant. Ile married in 1816 Mary, daughter of John Rogers and Mary Pixton, and granddaughter of John Rogers and his wife, Mary Day- enport, niece of Benjamin Franklin. Their only son is the present William Rhinelander. Of the three daughters, Julia and Serena have never married. The eldest child, Mary Rogers, became the second wife of the late Lispenard Stewart, and was the mother of the present William Rhinelander Stewart and Lispenard Stewart.
RHINELANDER, FREDERICK WILLIAM, was the fourth son of William Rhinelander and Mary Roberts. He was born in 1796 and died in 1836, at the early age of forty. He married Mary Lucy Ann, daughter of General Ebenezer Stevens, a distinguished officer of the Revolution and the War of 1812, and a successful New York mer- chant, and had three daughters and a son, the present Frederick Will- iam Rhinelander, Sr. The daughters became Mrs. George F. Jones, Mrs. Thomas H. Newbold, and Mrs. William Edgar.
RHINELANDER, WILLIAM, only son of the late William Chris- topher Rhinelander and Mary Rogers, is the present head of this well- known family. He was born in this city, September 19, 1825, attended private schools and was graduated from the Columbia College Gram- mar School. He was long associated with his father in the manage- ment of the large vested interests of the family, and, since his father's death in 1STS, has also been trustee of his estate. He married in 1853 Matilda Cruger, daughter of Chief Justice Thomas Jackson Oak- ley and Matilda Cruger, and has two sons, Thomas Jackson Oakley
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
and Philip Rhinelander. Judge Oakley, Mrs. Rhinelander's father, was graduated from Yale, and, in addition to holding the Chief Jus- ticeship of the Superior Court of this city from 1850 until his death in 1858, had been a Member of Congress in 1814 and 1815, and again in 1828 and 1829; was elected Attorney-General of this State in 1819, and had refused solicitation to become a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. His wife was the daughter of Henry Cruger, who was born in this city and died here, but being for some years a resident of Bristol, England, was Mayor of that city, served two terms in the British Parliament as the colleague of Edmund Burke, and in that body opposed the taxation of the American Colonies. Upon his return he became State Senator from this city. He was the grandson of John Cruger, notable merchant and Mayor of this city, whose wife - was Maria, daughter of Major Hendrick Cuyler, of Albany.
RHINELANDER, T. J. OAKLEY, was bred to the law, but has long confined himself to the care of the immense real estate interests of the Rhinelander estate. Born in this city in May, 1858, he was graduated from the Columbia College Academic Department in 1880, and subsequently from the Columbia College Law School. He is a member of the Union, Metropolitan, and Country Clubs, and the Co- lumbia College Alumni Association. He is, or has been, President of the Delta Phi Club, Vice-President of the Seventh Regiment Veteran League, a Governor of the Seventh Regiment Club, a Deputy Gover- nor of the Society of Colonial Wars, and is a member of the Seventh Regiment, the Society of Sons of the Revolution, and the St. Nicholas Society. He is the son of William Rhinelander, grandson of the late William C. Rhinelander, and lineally descended from Philip Jacob Rhinelander, the founder of the family in this country. Through his mother, Matilda Caroline Oakley, he is the grandson of the late Judge Oakley and great-grandson of Jesse Oakley, the Revolutionary pa- triot, who raised and equipped his own company. He is also a lineal descendant of Mayor John Cruger, 1739-44, and Major Hendrik Cuy- ler, of Albany, a soldier in the French and Indian wars.
RHINELANDER, FREDERICK WILLIAM, has for many years been Vice-President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is the only son of the late Frederick William Rhinelander of this city, and has been occupied with the care of the estate inherited from his father and with various business enterprises. He is a member of the Knick- erbocker, City, Mendelssohn Glee and Southside Sportsmen's clubs, the Downtown Association and the Columbia Alumni Association. He was born in this city in 1828, and in 1847 was graduated from Columbia College. He married in 1851 Frances D., daughter of Rev. Thomas HI. Skinner. Of their eight children, five were daughters, three of them being Mrs. William C. Rives, Mrs. Le Roy King, and the
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HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
wife of Rev. Lewis Cameron, while two, Frances L. and Alice K. Rhinelander, never married.
Frederick William Rhinelander, Jr., the eldest of the three sons, was gradnated from Harvard in 1882, and has since been associated with his father in the care of the large real estate interests of the family. He is also Vice-President of the West Point Foundry Com- pany, and is a member of the Knickerbocker, City, University, Har- vard, and Southside Sportsmen's clubs, and the Downtown Asso- ciation.
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