Prominent families of New York; being an account in biographical form of individuals and families distinguished as representatives of the social, professional and civic life of New York city, Part 3

Author: Weeks, Lyman Horace, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York, The Historical company
Number of Pages: 650

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Mr. Henry Burrall Anderson, the eldest son of Henry Hill Anderson, was born in New York in 1863. Educated in Yale University, he was graduated therefrom in the class of 1885 and settled to the practice of law in New York, later becoming a member of the firm of which his father was the head. He married Marie W. Larocque, daughter of Joseph Larocque, lives in East Fifty- seventh Street and spends the summer in Great Neck, Long Island. He is a member of the University, New York and City clubs. William Burrall Anderson, second son of the family, was graduated from Yale in 1886 and is also engaged in the practice of law. He married Helen Tremain, and lives in Gramercy Park, being a member of the University, City, Lawyers' and other clubs. The third son, Chandler P. Anderson, was graduated from Yale in 1887, is also a lawyer and a member of the University and City clubs.

CONSTANT A. ANDREWS

A MONG the many pioneer expeditions that came from England to the New World in the first half of the seventeenth century, that which sailed from London, in the ship Hector, was one of the most important as well as one of the most interesting. Under the leadership of John Davenport, Samuel Eaton, Theophilus Eaton and several other non-conformist clergymen, it was well equipped and its members were men and women of good standing in the communities from which they came. The company arrived in Boston, in June, 1637, and remained there for several months. Governor Winthrop endeavored to persuade these Colonists to take land in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and make their homes there, but they preferred to push further into the wilderness, and sent couriers to examine the land along the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound. In 1638, the entire company sailed from Boston and settled the town of Quinnipiac, which they afterwards called New Haven. In this expedition, William Andrews was prominent, and during the early years of the settlement he was active in the administration of the affairs of the community. He was the ancestor of a family which has been notable in many ways in Connec- ticut and in New York. His descendants have been successful business men, and have proved useful and patriotic citizens in public life.

Loring Andrews, a descendant of the pioneer William Andrews, was during his lifetime one of the leading merchants of New York, and one of the prominent representatives of the great business interests in the district known as "the Swamp," where the leather trade of the country is centered. He was born in Windham, Greene County, N. Y., January 21st, 1799, and died in New York, January 22d, 1875. At fourteen years of age, he entered the service of a tanner, and, remaining there for eight years, learned the business thoroughly. He then traveled through the West for a couple of years and returned East to engage in business with his former employer, and finally became a partner. In 1829, he came to New York. Beginning business with a small capital, before long he built up an extensive and successful trade. In 1832, he entered into partnership with William Wilson, Gideon Lee and Shepherd Knapp. The firm lost heavily in the panic of 1837, but Mr. Andrews remained in business and made another fortune. In 1861, he organized the firm of Loring Andrews & Co., which in a few years became one of the most important in its line, con- trolling a large number of tanneries. He also owned much real estate in New York. He was a benefactor of the University of New York, giving one hundred thousand dollars for professorships in that institution, while he also contributed largely to philanthropic causes. He was one of the first directors of the Mechanics' Bank, was the first president of the Shoe and Leather Bank, and first president of the Globe Life Insurance Company. In 1839, he married Blandina B. Hardenburgh, daughter of James B. Hardenburgh, D.D., and had seven children, William L., James B., Constant A., Loring, Walter S., Clarence and Isabelle Andrews.

Mr. Constant A. Andrews, the third son of Loring Andrews, was born in New York City, February 25th, 1844. He attended the Columbia College Grammar School and later went to Germany to complete his education. After the Civil War, he became a partner with his father, and subsequently was engaged with his brother, William L. Andrews, in the same business. In a few years, he retired and passed some time in European travel.

Upon returning from abroad, he organized the banking house of Constant A. Andrews & Co., with which he has since been connected, and which has been noted for its conservative policy and its connection with legitimate investments. Mr. Andrews has other business associations, being president of the United States Savings Bank and a director of the Second Avenue Street Railroad Company and of other companies. He was an incorporator and the first treasurer of the Reform Club, and was for many years the treasurer of the New York City Mission and Tract Society, and of the Charity Organization Society, while he is also a supporter of the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He married Mrs. Blanche L. Brewster, daughter of the Honorable S. B. H. Vance, of New York, and lives in West Fifty-seventh Street.

RICHARD ALLARD ANTHONY

I N 1653, when the government of New Amsterdam was officially organized, five schepens were appointed to take charge of the city affairs, their names being Paulus Vander Grist, Maximilian Van Gheel, Allard Anthony, Peter Van Couwenhoven and William Beekman.

Allard Anthony was a man of middle age, rich and influential, the consignee of a firm in Holland, with a store in the old church building erected by Wouter Van Twiller. He owned a farm in the country, just above Wall Street, and had a city residence, one of the finest private buildings of its time, in Whitehall Street. His son, Nicholas Anthony, was afterwards Sheriff of Ulster County, and his two daughters were among the most fashionable ladies of New Amster- dam. The same year that he was schepen, Allard Anthony went to Holland as a special agent of the people of New Amsterdam, to present their affairs to the Amsterdam Chamber, and in 1664, he was elected Sheriff of the county, an office which he continued to hold under the administration of the English Governor, Colonel Richard Nicolls, and retained until 1673. The Anthony family is believed to have been originally of Spanish origin, as its coat of arms is the same as that of the old Spanish Antonio family, one member of which, a soldier of the Spanish Conquest, remained in Holland and established the Dutch family of Antoni.

Edward Anthony, the father of the subject of this sketch, was descended in the seventh generation from Allard Anthony, the Dutch pioneer. His father was Jacob Anthony, for many years one of the principal tellers of the New York branch of the Bank of the United States, and cashier of the Bank of the State of New York. Edward Anthony was born in New York, in 1819, was a civil engineer by profession, and died in 1888. He was graduated from Columbia College in 1838, and was in the engineer corps on the original Croton Aqueduct, and afterwards, with Professor James Renwick, was engaged in the survey of the northeastern boundary of the United States. During this survey, he made some practical use of the new art of photography, and upon his return engaged in the business of manufacturing and supplying photographic materials. In 1842, with his brother, Henry T. Anthony, he organized the firm of E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., which in 1877 was reorganized as a corporation, with Edward Anthony as president, a position that he retained until the time of his death.

The mother of Richard A. Anthony, whom his father married in 1848, was Margaretta R. Montgomery, a daughter of James Montgomery. She was a direct descendant from the Count de Montgomerie, who accidentally killed a king of France in a tournament, in remembrance of which event, the arms of the Montgomery family display an arm holding a broken spear. The two daughters of Edward Anthony, Jane Kipp and Eleanor Anthony, married respectively Charles and Louis Soleliac.

Mr. Richard Allard Anthony, the only son of Edward Anthony, was born in New York, May 24th, 1861. He attended Rutgers College for two years, but finished his collegiate course in Columbia College, being graduated from that institution in 1881. After completing his education, he entered the business house that his father had established. When his uncle, H. T. Anthony, died in 1884, he became secretary of the corporation, upon his father's death in 1888 was advanced to the position of vice-president, and in 1896 was elected president, which position he now holds. He is a trustee of the United States Savings Bank, and for several years was a director of the Second Avenue Railroad. In 1895, Mr. Anthony married Amelia Van Valkenburgh, a lady who, like himself, descends from an old New York Dutch family. Mrs. Anthony is the daughter of Lawrence H. Van Valkenburgh and his wife, Florence Vandewater. Her paternal grandfather was John Lawrence Van Valkenburgh, of Albany, while on the maternal side her grandparents were Richard Vandewater, of Mobile, Ala., and his wife, Catherine H. Vandewater. Mr. Anthony belongs to the University, Storm King, and Richmond County Country clubs, and is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Holland Society, and the Columbia Alumni Association. His residence is in New Brighton, Staten Island.

DANIEL APPLETON

A PPLETON is a familiar name in the annals of New England. The original members of the family came to America early in the seventeenth century, and took a prominent part in the work of developing the country and its institutions. Three of the great-grandfathers of Colonel Daniel Appleton fought in the Revolutionary War, and two of his grandfathers held commissions in the War of 1812. But it is in the more peaceful business and professional occupa- tions that the Appletons have won their highest titles to fame, and in that direction they have achieved an international repute as one of the great publishing houses of this century. In that connection the name has been identified with New York for three generations.

Daniel Appleton, who founded the house of D. Appleton & Co., was born in Haverhill, Mass., December 10th, 1785. Early in life he was a dry goods merchant in his native town, then established himself in Boston, and in 1825 came to New York. In this city he began the business of book selling in connection with his dry goods store, from which it appears that the practice of dealing in dry goods and books in conjunction is not altogether a modern innovation. But Mr. Appleton soon gave up the dry goods branch of his establishment, and devoted himself entirely to importing and selling books, to which, in the course of time, he added the business of publishing. He published his first book, a religious work, in 1831. In 1838, he organized the firm of D. Apple- ton & Co., taking his son William H. into partnership, and, later on, three other sons, John A., Daniel Sidney and George, came into the firm. Daniel Appleton married Hannah Adams, daughter of John Adams, in 1813, and had five sons. Colonel Daniel Appleton, of the third generation that has been identified with the great publishing house, is a son of John Adams Appleton, who was born in 1817 and died in 1881. He was born in New York, February 24th, 1852, and received his early education in the public schools of New York, and at Carlsruhe, Germany, where he studied. On his return home from Germany he entered Harvard College, but did not remain to graduate, entering upon his duties as a clerk in the Appleton establishment in 1871. Since that time, he has been one of the most active members of the firm, and is at the head of its business department, having been a partner since 1879.

Colonel Appleton's inherited military tendencies early manifested themselves. When only fifteen years of age, he became a member of the famous Boston Cadet Corps, and drilled and camped with that organization for five years. After his return to New York to go into business, he was not long out of the ranks. In October, 1871, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Seventh Regiment, with which organization he has remained ever since. His military career has been notable, extending, as it has, over a period of more than a quarter of a century, and covering a wide and valuable experience, and important service to the State on many occasions. In April, 1873, he was promoted to be Corporal, and in November of the same year was advanced to the grade of Sergeant. He was made First Sergeant in March, 1875, and Second Lieutenant in May, 1876. In January, 1877, he was promoted to be Captain, and during the railroad riots of 1877, was on active duty with his company. Under his administration, Company F grew rapidly in mem- bership, until it reached the maximum allowed by law, which figure has been maintained, while at the same time in military excellence it became one of the best companies of the regiment. When Colonel Emmons Clark retired from the Seventh in 1889, Captain Appleton was chosen by a unanimous vote of the regiment's officers to succeed him, and has seen much active service, particularly upon the occasion of the street railroad riots in Brooklyn.

Aside from his business and military life, Colonel Appleton has comparatively few interests. He is unmarried, and his regimental duties command most of his leisure time. He lives in West Seventy-second Street, and at the family country place, Rockhurst, Premium Point, New Rochelle. He is, however, a member of the Union, New York Athletic, New York Yacht, Aldine and Riding clubs and the Century Association. His mother, who was Serena P. Dale, survived her husband, and lives in New York and New Rochelle.

WILLIAM HENRY ARNOUX

A MONG the French soldiers who came to America with the forces sent to aid the Colonists in their struggle against the British Crown, was Jean B. Arnoux, who was a native of Marseilles. He was a Captain in the army of Count Rochambeau, who, family tradition says, was his cousin. When the Revolutionary War came to an end, he decided to remain in this country, married one of his own countrywomen, and for a time made his home in Vergennes, Vt.

Jean B. Arnoux was the grandfather of Judge William H. Arnoux. Gabriel A. Arnoux, his son, was born in Vergennes, Vt., in 1805, and died in New York in 1855. He was a successful merchant here from 1824 until his death, and a member of the Garde Lafayette, the French military organization of this city. His wife was Ann Kennett, a descendant of Bishop Kennett, of England. Her mother was a Whaley, a lineal descendant of General Edward Whaley, one of the regicide Judges who signed the death warrant of Charles 1.

Judge William Henry Arnoux was born in New York City, September 8th, 1831. He was educated here, and at an early age manifested a marked inclination for study. He began to learn Latin at eight years of age and Greek at eleven, and when he was fifteen years old was fully prepared to enter Princeton College. His father, however, preferred that he should engage in business, and he accordingly entered a wholesale cloth house. At the end of four years, his plans for the future were changed to accord more with his own wishes and his natural aptitude, and he was taken from business and afforded an opportunity to study law. In four years, he passed the examination for admission to the bar, and in 1855 entered into partnership with Horace Holden, in whose office he had studied. This firm continued for three years only, and for the following ten years, Mr. Arnoux practiced his profession without an associate. In 1868, he became a member of the firm of Wright, Merihew & Arnoux, and two years later organized the firm of Arnoux, Ritch & Woodford.

In 1882, there being a vacancy on the bench of the Superior Court of the City and County of New York, caused by the resignation of Judge Spier, Governor Alonzo B. Cornell appointed Mr. Arnoux to fill the place. The Judgeship was contested by Richard O'Gorman, but the court to which the matter was submitted decided in favor of sustaining the Governor's action. Judge Arnoux served only for a short term as a Judge, but established a reputation for industry, legal learning and judicial ability that placed him in the front rank of his profession. On the termination of his service on the bench, Judge Arnoux returned to his law firm and engaged in the active practice of his profession until the ist of January, 1896, when he retired. He has been especially noted for the exhaustive manner in which he investigated every case that he undertook. The results of one of his most remarkable professional studies of this character which was in connection with the elevated railroads, and involved research into the early Colonial history of the State, have been published as a valuable treatise upon the settlement of the Dutch Colonists in New Amsterdam. Since his retirement from professional labors, he has been engaged in literary pursuits, principally of a scientific character.

Judge Arnoux maintains a lively interest in public matters, is active in all movements for governmental reform and for the better administration of municipal affairs, and is connected with many benevolent and religious societies of the city. He was one of the founders of the Union League Club in the early days of the Civil War, and one of the originators of the Bar Association of the City of New York. In 1889-90, he was president of the New York State Bar Association, and in 1890 chairman of the committee in charge of the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is past vice-president-general of both the National and the State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and vice-president of the Society for the Prevention of Crime and of the Church Temperance Society. He belongs to the Republican, Church and other clubs, and the New England Society. He married Pauline Browne, a descendant of Robert Hicks, the Quaker pilgrim of 1621.

JOHN JACOB ASTOR

T HE year 1783, which witnessed the British evacuation of the city, brought to New York the founder of one of its foremost families, in the person of the elder John Jacob Astor, a native of the town of Waldorf, in Germany. Only twenty years of age, and without capital or connections, he possessed education and ability besides a marked force of character which, by the beginning of the century, had made him a leader in. business and a man of fortune. Then, as in the Colonial era, the fur trade was one of the chief fields for American enterprise, and divining the possibilities the Oregon territory afforded, he established at Astoria, Ore., the first permanent American settlement on the Pacific coast. During the War of 1812 he gave effectual aid to the government, and was the largest individual subscriber to the United States loans of that trying period. His acute judgment convinced him of New York's imperial destiny, and his large investments in property in the lines of the city's growth established a policy to which his descend- ants adhered, and to which the enormous proportions of their wealth are due. Public spirited and charitable in practical ways, John Jacob Astor's memory will always be preserved in New York by that noble foundation, the Astor Library, for the establishment of which he left on his death in 1848 the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. His own chief enjoyment was the society of literary friends, among whom were Fitz Green Hallock and Washington Irving.

John Jacob Astor, the elder, married Sarah, daughter of Adam Todd, of New York, a first cousin of Mrs. Henry Brevoort. Their son, William B. Astor, who succeeded to the family estate, married Margaret Armstrong, daughter of General John Armstrong, the soldier, statesman and author, who served in the Continental Army, taking part as Major in the battle of Saratoga, repre- sented New York in the United States Senate, and became Minister to France, and Secretary of War during the War of 1812. His wife, the mother of Mrs. William B. Astor, was Alida Livingston, daughter of Judge Robert R. Livingston, and sister of the famous Chancellor Livingston.

The late William Astor, father of the present Mr. John Jacob Astor, was the son of William B. Astor and Margaret (Armstrong) Astor. He married Caroline Schermerhorn. daughter of Abraham Schermerhorn and his wife Helen. whose father, Henry White, married Ann Van Courtlandt. The Schermerhorn family descends from Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, who settled in New York in 1636, and on the side of a maternal ancestress from the famous Willhemus Beekman.

Mr. John Jacob Astor was born in 1864, at Ferncliff, on the Hudson River. He received his education at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., and graduated from the scientific department of Harvard University in 1888. He traveled extensively both in this country and Europe, one of his remarkable experiences being the honor of a personal interview with the Sultan of Turkey. In 1891 he married Ava Willing, daughter of Edward Shippen Willing, of Philadelphia, and his wife, Alice Barton Willing. The Willing family stands high in the Quaker City, descending from Charles Willing, who came to America in 1728, and was subsequently Mayor of Philadelphia in 1747 and again in 1754. His son, Thomas Willing, was also Mayor in 1753, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1767 to 1777, and first president of the Bank of the United States, and has the distinction of having designed the present coat of arms of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor have one son, William Vincent Astor.

On the death of his father, in 1892, Mr. Astor succeeded to the bulk of the family estate, and has since given his attention largely to the administration of his property. This, however, has not prevented him from taking an active interest in business and public affairs. He is a director in many financial and other corporations, and was an aide-de-camp with the rank of Colonel on the staff of Governor Levi P. Morton. Society and sport have also not been neglected, both Mr. and Mrs. Astor being devoted to yachting, golf and other fashionable recreations. He owns the Nourmahal, one of the finest steam yachts in the country. A considerable part of each year is spent at his handsome Newport residence and his country place on the Hudson. Mr. Astor is a member of nearly all the foremost New York clubs, and of the Society of Colonial Wars.

JOHN W. AUCHINCLOSS

F FOR upwards of a century, the Auchincloss family has been resident in New York, and during that time its members have closely identified themselves with the best interests of the city, social and commercial. Hugh Auchincloss, of Paisley, Scotland, came to the United States about the beginning of the century that is now drawing to a close. He had been a thrifty and enterprising merchant in his Scotch home, and after settling in New York, engaged, in 1805, in the business of importing dry goods. He was eminently successful, and before he died, in 1855, had accumulated a considerable fortune and built up a large and profitable business.

John Auchincloss, the eldest son of Hugh Auchincloss, is well remembered by the generation that is just passing off the scene. He was born in New York in 1810, and early in life entered his father's establishment and received a thorough mercantile training. Hugh Auchincloss, the younger son, was born in New York City in 1817. He also entered the paternal business house, becoming a partner with his father and elder brother. He was a member of Grace Protestant Episcopal Church and a director in several financial institutions, including the Merchants' National Bank and the Bleecker Street Savings Bank. His only daughter married Lewis P. Child, of New Canaan, Conn., and he died at the home of his son-in-law, in 1890.

While on a visit to Quebec, Canada, John Auchincloss died there, June 26th, 1876. At that time, he was a director of the Merchants' Bank, a trustee of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and actively connected with other fiduciary institutions. He was a member of the Fifth Avenue Pres- byterian Church nearly all his life, and was a generous contributor to the religious and benevolent institutions that are supported by the charitably disposed people of the city. He left a family of six sons and two daughters, his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Buck, being still alive at an advanced age. Her city home is in West Fifty-seventh Street, and she has a summer residence in Newport.

The firm founded by Hugh Auchincloss, the first of the name, which down to 1855 continued to do business under the title of Hugh Auchincloss & Son, held a high position in the mercantile community. In 1855, however, its style was changed to John & Hugh Auchincloss, and later on it became Auchincloss Brothers, which is its title to-day. For many years the business of Auchincloss Brothers has been continued by the third generation of the name in America, John W. and Hugh D. Auchincloss, sons of John Auchincloss, who uphold the best traditions of the family establishment. The brothers were engaged in the dry goods commission business from 1880 to 1891, when they retired from that branch of commerce, and have since devoted themselves to managing and developing their manufacturing, railroad, mining and other properties.

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Prominent families of New York; being an account in biographical form of individuals and families distinguished as representatives of the social, professional and civic life of New York city, Part 3

Author: Weeks, Lyman Horace, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: New York, The Historical company Number of Pages: 650

Author: Weeks, Lyman Horace, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York, The Historical company
Number of Pages: 650