USA > New York > New York City > 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 5
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Mr. Backus was graduated from Union College, and adopted the law as his profession. In 1877, he married Cornelia N. Price, daughter of Joshua C. Price, of Rockingham County, Va., a lady whose family is well known in Virginia and Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Backus have one daughter, Elizabeth Chester Backus. Foreign travel has occupied a portion of Mr. Backus's leisure. He was one of the original members of the University Athletic Club, is a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Society of Colonial Wars, the New England Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is a fellow of the American Geographical Society. He was one of the seven incorporators of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, is at present an active member of its Board of Assistants, and takes a warm interest in the organizations designed to nourish a love for the patriotic traditions of our country.
32
AUSTIN P. BALDWIN
E NGLISH blood mingled with that of the Dutch founders of New Netherland produced the race to which New York owes much of its preeminence in the country at large. The same strain has also been dominant from the outset in the city's social organization. Furthermore, each generation of this typical New York stock attracts to and reinforces itself with the best elements from every part of the land.
A striking and pertinent example of these interesting facts is furnished by the history of the Baldwin family. The name has long been familiar alike in the history of New York and that of Connecticut, many of its bearers having been prominent in Colonial, as well as in later days, in both political life and in professional and commercial pursuits. The New York branch of the family was, at the beginning of the present century, well represented by Enos Baldwin, who married Mary Parker, a native of Cavendish, Vt. Their son, Austin Baldwin, the first of that name, born in Albany, N. Y., became an eminent merchant in that city and a leader in politics. He was an adherent of the old Whig party and an associate of Henry Clay and the other leading men of the same political faith. He became a prominent figure in the higher councils of his party, frequently held office, was appointed to a position of national responsibility by President William Henry Harrison, and also served in the Assembly, becoming its Speaker.
In 1829, he married Julia Clarissa Huyck, daughter of Colonel John Van Heusen Huyck and his wife, Clara (Radcliffe) Huyck. She was born at Rhinebeck, N. Y., and descended on both sides from the oldest and most influential families of Colonial antecedents in the river counties of the State, her near relatives including such prominent names as Radcliffe, Van Ness, Dewitt, Van Hovenburg, Kip, Van Wagener, Van Heusen, Hogeboom and Schermerhorn. Her mother was a daughter of General William Radcliffe, an officer of the Revolutionary Army. One of her brothers was Jacob Radcliffe, who became a Judge of the Supreme Court of New York, and was Mayor of the City of New York for two terms, in 1810-11 and again in 1815-18, and was one of the leading figures in the political life of his day in New York. Another brother was Peter W. Radcliff, who was also a distinguished lawyer and active in politics, being a State Senator and Judge of the King's County Court. Few among the early settlers of this State held a more distinguished position or were more useful and patriotic citizens than the Radcliffs, descended from Joachim Radcliffe, one of the earliest settlers.
Mr. Austin P. Baldwin is the son of Austin and Julia Clarissa (Huyck) Baldwin, and was born in New York in 1834. He was educated in Middletown, Conn., and entered business in early life, becoming an enterprising and successful merchant. He married Alice Bradford, of Providence, R. l., a member of a family whose lineage includes some of the most notable names in the Colonial and Revolutionary history of the New England States. Mrs. Baldwin is a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford, one of the leaders of the Mayflower Pilgrims, Governor of the Plymouth Colony and the earliest historian of the Puritan settlement in America. Another of her ancestors in a direct line is Captain Miles Standish, 1584-1656, famous in New England tradition as the first commissioned military officer of the Colonists, and immortalized by the greatest of American poets. He was also the founder of Duxbury, Mass., and the magistrate of that town until his death. The erection, in 1872, of the monument to the memory of Miles Standish, at Duxbury, was due to a movement in which Mrs. Baldwin's father took an active part.
Mr. Baldwin resides in West Thirty-second Street. His children are Standish Bradford, Austin Radcliffe, and Alice Maud Baldwin. His son, Austin R. Baldwin, was graduated from Yale University in the class of 1886. Mr. Baldwin has traveled extensively, having made more than thirty visits to Europe. In 1896, accompanied by his children, he made a trip to Japan. He is a member of the Union League Club, of the St. Nicholas Society, and of the Downtown Association.
33
GEORGE VAN NEST BALDWIN
E VEN before the Norman Conquest, the name of Baldwin occurs in English history. It was borne by several noble families of France and Normandy, while it was also the appellation of the ancient counts of Flanders. In later times, there were several families of the landed gentry bearing the name in England and Normandy. The American Baldwins trace their descent to Richard Baldwin, of Bucks County, England, one of a family which possessed estates in that locality. The most eminent Baldwin of Bucks County was Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of England from 1536 until his death, in 1546. Richard Baldwin, of Donrigge, as the name appears in the records, was of the parish of Aston Clifton, Bucks County, where he died about 1552. His son Richard was born about 1530 and died in 1630. Three sons of this second Richard Baldwin, Nathaniel, Timothy and Joseph, came to this country early in the seventeenth century.
Joseph Baldwin was born in Cholesbury, arrived in New England soon after 1620, and lived in Milford, Conn., where he is recorded among the first settlers in 1639. He remained in Milford nearly a quarter of a century, but about 1663 joined a company of pioneers, who pushed further west to the banks of the Connecticut River. He settled in Hadley, Mass., and became a freeman of that place in 1666. He was married when he came to this country, and his second wife, whom he married here, was Isabel Northam, who died in 1676. After- wards he married Elizabeth Hitchcock, who died in 1696, he having already died in 1684. In the second generation, Jonathan Baldwin, of Milford, 1649-1739, was a man of prominence. His first wife, the ancestress of the subject of this sketch, was Hannah, daughter of John Ward. His second wife was Thankful Strong, daughter of the famous Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass., who was the American founder of a family that became one of the largest and most influential in the annals of Colonial New England.
John Baldwin, son of Jonathan Baldwin, was born in Milford in 1688, and removed to New Jersey with other families from Milford, who established a settlement called Connecticut Farms, in remembrance of their former home; there he died in 1773. In the next generation, the ancestors of Mr. George Van Nest Baldwin were Ezekiel Baldwin, 1719-1805, and his wife, Sarah Baldwin, who was his cousin, a daughter of Benjamin Baldwin. Ezekiel Baldvin was a soldier of the Revolutionary Army, serving in the New Jersey forces. Jotham Baldwin, his son, was born in 1765 and died in 1854. His wife, Joanna Baldwin, was a cousin, being the daughter of Nathan Baldwin. The Reverend Eli Baldwin, D. D., their son and father of the gentleman referred to in this sketch, was born in 1791 and became an eminent divine of the Dutch Reformed Church. His wife, Phoebe Van Nest, came of the old Dutch family of that name. Her grandfather, George Van Nest, served during the Revolutionary War as Captain in the First Battalion of the New Jersey Line. After the war, he was a resident of Somerset County, N. J., and a large landowner. Mr. Baldwin's grandfather, Abraham Van Nest, was a wealthy New York merchant, and owned a country seat in Greenwich Village.
Mr. George Van Nest Baldwin was educated in private schools in New Brunswick, N. J., and was graduated from Rutgers College in 1856, and from the Law School of Columbia College in 1860, taking first honors there. Admitted to practice in New York, he has since pursued his profession with distinction and success, and is a leading member of the bar. His attention has been largely given to the law of trusts, and in that branch of practice he is a recognized authority. In late years his practice has been largely as consulting counsel and in the manage- ment of estates. He has been a member of the Bar Association since its foundation, and is also a member of the Metropolitan and Union clubs and of the Century Association and the St. Nicholas Society. He was one of the founders of the University Club, was its first vice- president, afterwards president, and for many years a member of its council. He is also a trustee of the Society Library and belongs to many other literary and social organizations.
34
MISS MARY E. C. BANCKER
T HE Bancker family has been prominently represented in New York history from the earliest Colonial days. Members of it have at all times been numbered among the leading citizens of the Metropolis and the State, and they have intermarried with such families as the de Peysters, Rutgers, Henrys and others. The family was of Dutch origin, and the coat of arms to which it is entitled and which are borne by its American representatives was given in 1448 to four brothers, Admirals in the Dutch Navy.
Gerrit Bancker came from Holland about 1656. He was a native of Amsterdam, where he left a brother, Willem, who, according to the records, was living as late as 1700. Soon after arriving in New Amsterdam, Gerrit Bancker went to Beverwyck (Albany), where he engaged in business as a trader. He owned considerable real estate in various parts of that village, and was one of the fifteen proprietors of Schenectady. His wife was Elizabeth Dircks, a daughter of Dirck Van Eps and Maritje Damens. After his death, his widow removed to New York, where she died in 1693, being at that time the owner of houses and lands in Schenectady, Albany, Catskill and New York, besides a large amount of personal property.
Evert Bancker, the second of the family name in this country, was the oldest son of Gerrit Bancker, and was born in 1665. His sister, Anna, became the wife of Johannes de Peyster, Mayor of New York. Evert Bancker was a merchant of Albany, and was held in high esteem by his fellow colonists, who elected him to many important offices. He was Justice of the Peace in 1692 and Mayor of Albany 1695-6 and 1707-9. His wife was Elizabeth Abeel, daughter of Stoffer Janse Abeel. He died in 1734, his wife having departed only a few months previously. The children of Evert and Elizabeth (Abeel) Bancker were Gerardus, Neeltje, Gerardus second, Elizabeth, Gerrit, Lansing, Christopher, Anna, Willem, Jannetje, Adrianus, Gerardus third, Anna second, Johannes, and Johannes second. Three of the sons of this family, Christopher, who was born in 1695, Adrianus and Gerardus, settled in New York, Christopher and his son Christopher, who was born in 1732, being the direct ancestors of Miss Mary E. C. Bancker. The Bancker homestead stood for many years on the site of the Bank of America in Wall Street. Evert Bancker, the great-grand- father of Miss Bancker, was one of the Committee of One Hundred appointed to govern the City of New York during the Revolution, 1779-1782. In June, 1776, he and Comfort Sands constituted the committee to make statement to Congress of all the cargoes of vessels in port and of the amount of lead and powder in stock. Afterwards he was a member of the Assembly and Speaker of the House. Gerard Bancker was Treasurer of the State in 1789, and held that office until after 1798. In 1784, Abraham B. Bancker was elected clerk of the State Senate, to succeed Robert Benson, who had been the clerk through six preceding sessions. Abraham B. Bancker was also one of the early Regents of the State University.
The Banckers owned for many generations a large tract of land in the vicinity of Bancker, afterwards Madison Street, adjoining the Roosevelt property, from which Roosevelt Street received its name. They were then among the largest land owners in the city. The men of the family were lawyers and merchants, and were often aldermen, when to be an alderman was regarded as one of the greatest civic honors that could be bestowed. In every generation they held seats in the Assembly and the Senate of the State Legislature.
Miss Mary E. C. Bancker is the daughter of the late Josiah Hook Bancker and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Henry, daughter of Michael Henry, a famous New York merchant, born in New York City, in 1784. He was a merchant on Water Street, and afterwards proprietor of the New York Gallery at 100 Broadway, one of the first establishments devoted to the exhibition of paintings and fine arts in New York. The paternal grandfather of Miss Bancker was John Bancker, and her maternal great-grandfather was John Sinclair Henry, a merchant of the eighteenth century, Commissary General of United States Army from 1776 to close of the war, and one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange. Miss Bancker makes her home at Englewood, N. J.
35
DAVID BANKS
D AVID BANKS, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Newark, N. J., in 1786 and died in New York in 1871. His early education was outlined with a view to his prepara- tion for the legal profession, and when he was twenty years old he began the study of law in New York in the office of Charles Baldwin, whose partner he afterwards became. He was more thoroughly identified, however, with the business of publishing law books, than he was with active practice at the bar. In 1804, his attention was turned to the pressing need for more and better law books than were then procurable in this country. He formed a partnership with Stephen Gould, under the name of Banks & Gould, thus founding the publishing firm which has now been in existence for very nearly a century, and is the oldest law publishing house in the United States.
Apart from his business, Mr. Banks was one of the popular and active men of his day. He took considerable interest in municipal affairs, and held the office of alderman and assistant alderman for nearly ten years, and during part of that time was president of the Board of Aldermen. During the latter years of his life, he was president of the East River Bank. His ancestors were of old Revolutionary stock. David Banks, his father, was a distinguished Revolutionary soldier who fought bravely throughout the entire struggle for independence and was a trusted soldier of General Washington, being one of the party which made that famous winter passage across the Delaware before the battle of Trenton. His uncle was the Right Honorable Sir Joseph Banks, for many years president of the Royal Society of England, and a companion of Captain James Cook on that explorer's first voyage around the world in 1768. He was an eminent patron of literary and philosophical writers, and personally engaged in many important researches in natural history in Newfoundland, Iceland and elsewhere. His expedition to Iceland in company with his friend, Dr. Solander, was one of the most important and fruitful scientific enterprises of the eighteenth century. Sir Joseph Banks was born in 1743, was created a Knight of the Bath in recognition of his services to the cause of science, and died in 1820.
During his long life, David Banks, Sr., was intimately associated with all the great political leaders of his day, numbering among his friends such men as ex-Governors Wright and Marcy, Chancellors Kent and Walworth, Judges Sanford and Samuel Jones, Chief Justice Nelson and President Martin Van Buren. He married early in life Harriet Breneck Lloyd, daughter of Paul B. Lloyd, of the old New York family of that name.
The present Mr. David Banks, his son, was born in New York, December 25th, 1827. He entered the publishing house of his father at an early age, and in time succeeded to the position of head of the establishment. He has been connected with many financial and social institutions, and is a vice-president of the East River National Bank, of which institution his father was the first president. By virtue of his ancestry, he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution and the Sons of Veterans of 1812, while he was the last Captain of the Old City Guard and is an honorary member of the Old Guard. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, and a commander of the Society of Foreign Wars. His club memberships include the Union, Manhattan, New York, Lawyers', St. Nicholas and City clubs. A devoted yachtsman, he owns the Water Witch and has been commodore of the Atlantic Yacht Club, belonging also to the New York Yacht Club and the Atalanta Boat Club. Naturally a patron of science and literature, he is a member of the American Geographical Society and the American Museum of Natural History, a member of the Council, and also a member of the building, library and law committees of the New York University. His residence is in West Fortieth Street.
The wife of Mr. Banks was Lucetta G. Plum, daughter of the late Elias Plum, of Troy. Their daughter is Lucetta P. Banks, and their son David Banks, Jr. The latter is a graduate of Columbia University and is engaged in the law publishing business with his father. He is a member of the Calumet and A + clubs, the St. Nicholas Society, the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the Revolution.
36
THEODORE MELVIN BANTA
U NDER the title, A Frisian Family, Mr. Theodore M. Banta has published an interesting account of the family of which he is a representative. The name of Banta is a very ancient one, and in Kemble's The Saxons in England, it is recorded as having been borne as early as 738 A. D. by a sub-king of Kent. Epke Jacobse Banta was the ancestor of the race in this country, the name of Epke being the Frisian equivalent of Egbert, while Jacobse signifies son of Jacob. This founder of the Banta family in the United States came from Harlingen, a seaport of the Province of Friesland, and arrived in New Netherland, in 1659, in the ship De Trouw, being accompanied by his wife and five sons. Settling near Flushing, Long Island, he removed to Bergen, N. J., ten years later, where, in 1679, he was one of the Judges of Oyer and Terminer.
In 1681 he purchased a large tract in Hackensack, N. J., and with his sons was among the earliest settlers in that section. His son Hendrick was one of the deacons of the Dutch Reformed Church in Hackensack, when it was organized in 1616. Cornelius Epke Banta, probably the eldest son of Epke Jacobse, was born in Holland in 1652, his first wife being Jannetje, daughter of Jan De Pre and Jannetje De Ruine, who was baptized in New Amsterdam in 1662. He died in May, 1719.
Jacob Banta was the son of Cornelius Epke Banta by his second wife, Magdalena Demarest, and was born in 1702. His son, Cornelius Banta, who was born May 7th, 1730, and died in 1812, was a Chosen Freeholder for Hackensack township in 1800. By his second wife, Hendrickye Outwater, a daughter of Jacob Outwater, Cornelius Banta had several children, among them the grandfather of Mr. Theodore Melvin Banta, Jacob Banta, who lived in Winkleman, now Bogota, on the east side of the Hackensack river, opposite Hackensack, where he inherited a large amount of land from his father. In 1816 and in 1817, he was a member of the Assembly of the State of New Jersey from Bergen County, and in 1819 was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in 1844. His wife was Wintje, daughter of Jacob H. Zabriskie.
Albert Zabriskie Banta, the father of Mr. Theodore Melvin Banta, was born in Hackensack. He was a manufacturer in New York, and had a large establishment in Catherine Street, near East Broadway, in 1832. In 1837, he removed to Augusta, Ga., where he continued in business, and while there he held a commission as Lieutenant in the Georgia militia. Returning to New York, in 1841, he again engaged in business there until his death, in 1854. The wife of Albert Zabriskie Banta was Sarah Ann Sayre, of Essex County, N. J. Her father, Calvin Sayre, was a descendant of Thomas Sayre, who came from Bedfordshire, England, in 1636 to Lynn, Mass., and was one of the founders of the town of Southampton, Long Island, in 1641. The mother of Sarah Ann Sayre was Mary Dickerson, a descendant of Philemon Dickerson, who was also one of the founders of Southold, Long Island, in 1641.
Mr. Theodore Melvin Banta was born in New York, November 23d, 1834. He entered the College of the City of New York at its first session, in 1849, and completed a two-years' course of study. For several years he was engaged as an accountant, and in 1858 took charge of the actuarial work of the New York Life Insurance Company, becoming, in 1863, cashier of that corporation. He belongs to the St. Nicholas Society, the Huguenot Society, the New York Historical Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, the Long Island Historical Society, the Virginia Historical Society, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, the American Geographical Society and the Holland Society, of which he has been secretary since 1891. He also belongs to the Reform and Twilight clubs. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and has been president of the Baptist Social Union of Manhattan and treasurer of the Baptist Social Union of Brooklyn. In 1862, he married Cornelia Crane. Mr. and Mrs. Banta have had three children, of whom two daughters, May and Effie Banta, survive and are graduates of Wellesley College.
37
AMZI LORENZO BARBER
M ORE than half a century ago, when the country was stirred to the depths on the slavery question, the trustees of the Lane Theological Seminary, in Cincinnati, O., interdicted the discussion of the subject in that institution. Several of the students, resenting this sup- pression of free thought and free speech, left the seminary, and journeyed across the State of Ohio to Oberlin College, where such privileges were not denied, and continued their studies there. In this band of liberty-loving young men was Amzi Doolittle Barber, who graduated from Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1841, and became a Congregational clergyman, settled for many years in Saxton's River, Windham County, Vt. The great-grandfather of the Reverend Amzi D. Barber was Thomas Barber, the elder of three brothers, who came from England before the Revolution. Thomas Barber settled in Vermont, and his descendants have been from that time prominent citizens of the Green Mountain State. Mr. Amzi L. Barber, son of the Reverend Amzi D. Barber, can trace his lineage to four nationalities. On his father's side, his ancestors were of Scotch and Irish blood, while his mother, who was born Nancy Irene Bailey, of Westmoreland, Oneida County, New York, belonged to a family of English and French origin.
Mr. Amzi Lorenzo Barber was born in Saxton's River, Vt., in June, 1843. His family moved to Ohio when he was a child, and he was educated in the schools and academies of several towns where his father occupied pastorates. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1867, and after a short postgraduate course in the theological department of that institution of learning, went to Washington in 1868, to take charge of the normal department of Howard University, under the direction of General O. O. Howard. Subsequently, he was in charge of the preparatory department, and also professor of natural philosophy in the same institution. He, however, finally turned his attention from letters to business. In 1872, he engaged in the real estate busi- ness in Washington; and while thus occupied, the subject of street improvement began to press upon his attention, and he made the construction of asphalt pavements, on a large scale, his occupation, incorporating in 1883 the Barber Asphalt Company. He has also been a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Washington, and the Washington Loan & Trust Company.
Despite his business cares, Mr. Barber gives much time to yachting, a pleasure to which he is enthusiastically devoted. He has a steam yacht in commission at New York throughout the season, and makes many cruises in home waters. In 1893-94, he made a yachting trip with his family to the Mediterranean and the East. He is a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club of London, and also of the New York, Seawanhaka-Corinthian and Larchmont Yacht clubs. His other important clubs include the Metropolitan, the Engineers', the Church, and the Lawyers', for he is a member of the bar, although he has never practiced the profession. He is also a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Society of Arts, in London, a patron of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History, and a member of the New England Society, the Ohio Society, and the American Geographical Society.
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