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 88
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Feeling a deep interest in religious and charitable work, Mr. Stewart gives considerable time to organizations for such objects, being a director of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, a trustee of the John F. Slater fund for the industrial education of the negroes of the South, a trustee of the Brick Presbyterian Church, of which the Reverend Henry van Dyke is pastor, and one of the trustees of Princeton University. Mr. Stewart married, in 1845, Sarah Youle Johnson, of New York. His second wife, whom he married in 1894, was Mary O. Capron, daughter of Francis B. Capron, of Baltimore. He has had four children, the two now living being a son, John A. Stewart, Jr., who is engaged in the real estate business in this city, and married Anne Thomas, and a daughter, Emily Stewart, who is the wife of Robert Waller, Jr., a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Stewart's elder son, now deceased, was William A. Walker Stewart, a prominent member of the New York bar, and who married a daughter of William Gray, of Boston. At his death, he left four children, Mary, Frances V., Francis G., and William A. Walker Stewart. The deceased daughter of Mr. John A. Stewart was Mary, who married George St. John Sheffield. Mr. Stewart is a member of the Metropolitan, Union League and Riding clubs.
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WILLIAM RHINELANDER STEWART
S COTCH and Huguenot families of distinction are the paternal ancestors of this gentleman. His father, the late Lispenard Stewart, was a descendant of Robert Stewart, who came to New York before the Revolution, and whose grandson, Alexander L. Stewart, married Sarah Lispenard, daughter of Captain Anthony Lispenard and his wife, Sarah Barclay. The Hu- guenot family of Lispenard came to America after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In the charter of Trinity Church, granted by William Ill., in 1693, is the name of David Lispenard. Other bearers of the name held important positions in the early history of the city; among them Leonard Lispenard, born in 1716, who was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. By his marriage with Alice Rutgers, daughter of Anthony Rutgers, he acquired an extensive property on the west side of the city, long known as the Lispenard estate. Captain Anthony Lispenard, father of Sarah (Lispenard) Stewart, was the younger son of Leonard Lispenard.
Lispenard Stewart, the elder, was the son of Alexander L. Stewart. He was born in New York, and died in 1867. He was twice married, his first wife being Louisa Stephania Salles. After her death, he espoused Mary Rogers Rhinelander, who survived until 1893. She was a daughter of William Christopher Rhinelander. The three children of this marriage are: William Rhinelander and Lispenard Stewart and Mary R. Stewart, the wife of Frank S. Witherbee. By his first marriage, Lispenard Stewart had two daughters, Louisa Stephania, who married John B. Trevor, and Sarah Lispenard, who married Frederick Graham Lee.
Mr. William Rhinelander Stewart, the head of the family, was born in New York, December 3d, 1852. Educated by tutors, and at the Charlier's and Anthon's schools, he graduated from the Law School of Columbia College in 1873. Admitted to the bar, he was with a leading law firm for some years, and now gives attention to the management of the family estates. In 1879, he married Annie M., daughter of the late John A. Armstrong, of Baltimore, the surviving children of this marriage being a daughter, Anita, and a son, William Rhinelander Stewart, Jr.
Representing families with extensive interests in New York, Mr. Stewart takes an active part in all public movements to advance the municipal interests. He joined Company K of the Seventh Regiment in 1871, and served eight years in that command. In 1882, Governor Cornell appointed him a member of the State Board of Charities, to which office he was reappointed by Governors Flower and Black, and on the death of the Honorable Oscar Craig, in 1894, was unani- mously elected to succeed him as president of the board. During most of his long service on the board, Mr. Stewart has been chairman of the Committee on Reformatories, and on Schools for the Deaf, and has annually visited all parts of the State to inspect institutions. Many of the reports of the different committees of this board are from his pen. His duties as president of the board require the gratuitous devotion of fully one-half his time. Mr. Stewart was also president of the Twenty-fifth National Conference of Charities and Corrections. For the Centennial of Wash- ington's Inauguration, in 1889, he originated the idea of spanning Fifth Avenue, at Washington Square, with a triumphal arch, and carried it to completion. He was treasurer of the committee which erected the present permanent arch. Mr. Stewart is a vestryman of Grace Church and its treasurer since 1893. He is a trustee of the Greenwich Savings Bank, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to the Union, Metropolitan, Century and many other clubs, and the Downtown Association, being secretaryof the latter.
Lispenard Stewart, the second son of Lispenard Stewart, Sr., was born in Westchester County in 1855. He was graduated from Yale College in 1876, and from the Columbia College Law School in 1878. He has been active in politics, and in 1889-90 was a member of the State Senate, a Presidential elector in 1888, and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896. Since 1895, he has been president of the State Prison Commission, and is identified with several philanthropic organizations. He is a member of the Union, Metropolitan, University and Union League clubs, and resides at 6 Fifth Avenue, having a summer home in Newport.
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JAMES STILLMAN
G EORGE STILLMAN, the first American ancestor of Mr. James Stillman, was born in London, England, in 1654, and came to Hadley, Mass., afterwards removing to Wethersfield, Conn. While living in Hadley, he was a selectman in 1696, and a deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1698. In Wethersfield he was a selectman in 1708, and left an estate valued at nearly three thousand pounds, a large sum at that time. His wife, whom he married in 1685, was Rebecca Smith, daughter of Deacon Philip Smith, one of the first settlers of Hadley, in the company led by Governor Webster. Nathaniel Stillman, the son of George Stillman, was born in 1691, and married Anna Southmayd, daughter of William South- mayd, and had for his second wife Sarah Allyn, daughter of Captain Joseph Allyn. His son, Nathaniel Stillman, 1791-1811, married Mehitable Deming, daughter of David Deming, of Wethers- field. In the next generation, Nathaniel Stillman, born in 1752, married Martha Hanmer. Their son, Francis Stillman, 1785-1838, married Harriet Robbins, and their son, Charles Stillman, was the father of Mr. James Stillman. All the ancestors of Mr. Stillman were public-spirited men. His four great-grandfathers served in the Continental Army, two of them as officers. Charles Stillman was a successful shipping merchant, being one of the first financiers of New York interested in developing the Southern section of the country. He married Elizabeth Pamela Goodrich, daughter of Joshua Goodrich and Clarissa Francis.
The American ancestor of the Goodrich family was William Goodrich, who, born in England, near Bury St. Edmunds, came to New England with his brother, John Goodrich. He was a freeman of Connecticut in 1656, and a deputy from Wethersfield to the General Court in 1662. In 1663, he was an ensign of the militia, and died in 1676. In 1648, he married Sarah Marvin, daughter of Matthew Marvin, of Hartford, and his wife, Elizabeth. William Goodrich, his son, married Grace Riley, and their son, Lieutenant Joseph Goodrich, who married Mehitable Goodwin, daughter of Nathaniel Goodwin, was the great-great-grandfather of Elizabeth Pamela Goodrich. Their son was Nathaniel Goodrich. He married Martha Deming ; his son, Isaac Goodrich, who married Elizabeth Raymond, was Mr. James Stillman's great-grandfather.
Mr. James Stillman was born in Brownsville, Tex., June 9th, 1850. His parents temporarily resided there at the time, while his father was engaged in the management of important business interests. Returning from the South to Hartford, Conn., Mr. Stillman was brought up in that city, and was educated principally at Churchill's school, in Sing Sing, N. Y. When he had attained his majority, in 1871, he entered the firm of Smith, Woodward & Stillman, cotton mer- chants of New York, and has maintained an unbroken connection with the house down to the present time, becoming a partner in 1873 of the firm of Woodward & Stillman, which succeeded the earlier establishment, and having been its head for many years. Aside from his connection with mercantile affairs, he has been identified with large financial interests, and is connected with several banks and railroad companies. He is president of the National City Bank, and a director of the United States Trust Company, the Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, the New York Security & Trust Company, the Hanover National Bank, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Consolidated Gas Com- pany, and the Queen Insurance Company.
Mr. Stillman married Sarah Elizabeth Rumrill, their five children being: Elsie, who married William G. Rockefeller, son of William Rockefeller; James A., Isabel Goodrich, Charles Chauncey, and Ernest Goodrich Stillman. The city residence of Mr. and Mrs. Stillman is in East Fortieth Street, and they also have a summer home, Oaklawn, in Newport. Mr. Stillman is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Cotton Exchange. His clubs include the Century, Metro- politan, Union, Union League, Reform, New York Yacht, Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht, Eastern Yacht, St. Augustine Yacht, Jekyl Island, Storm King, Tuxedo, Riding and Lawyers', while he also belongs to the New York Historical Society and the Metropolitan Club, of Washington.
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ANSON PHELPS STOKES
T HE family of which Mr. Anson Phelps Stokes is the prominent representative in the present generation was of Norman origin, a branch of the ancient and illustrious house of Montespedon. Several of its members went to England from Normandy soon after the Conquest, and there obtained large landed possessions, and were people of high standing. Thomas Stokes, the American emigrant, was a son of William Stokes, of London, and was born in that city in 1765. His wife was Elizabeth Ann Boulter, daughter of James Boulter, of Lowestoff, Wales. He came to New York in 1798, and was one of the most distinguished men of that generation in philanthropic and religious work. Before coming to this country he was a merchant of considerable wealth, and one of the founders of the London Missionary Society. In this country he was one of the founders of the American Bible Society, the New York Peace Society and the American Tract Society.
James Stokes, 1804-1881, father of Mr. Anson Phelps Stokes, was the son of Thomas Stokes. Early in life he was engaged in business with his father, but later became a member of the metal importing firm of Phelps, Dodge & Co. After remaining in this business connection for about forty years, he assisted in establishing the banking house of Phelps, Stokes & Co. Inter- ested in charitable and religious institutions, he contributed generously to their support, and was associated with Peter Cooper and others in the development of the public school system.
James Stokes married Caroline Phelps, daughter of Anson G. Phelps, in 1837. Anson G. Phelps, 1781-1853, was directly descended in the sixth generation from George Phelps, the pioneer, who was one of the first settlers of Windsor, Conn. Mr. Phelps also had descent from the Watson, Griswold, Woodbridge, Wyllys, Haynes, Dudley Egleston and other great Colonial families. Among his most distinguished ancestors were three Colonial Governors, John Haynes, Thomas Dudley and George Wyllys. His father was Lieutenant Thomas Phelps, who served in the Continental Army under Generals Washington, Putnam, Greene and others. Seven children of James Stokes and his wife, Caroline Phelps, survived their parents: Anson Phelps, James, Jr., Thomas, William E. Dodge, Olivia Egleston Phelps, Dora, wife of Henry Dale, and Caroline Phelps Stokes.
Mr. Anson Phelps Stokes, the eldest son of this family, was born in New York, was a partner in Phelps, Dodge & Co., and afterwards in the banking business of Phelps, Stokes & Co., with his father. In late years, he has been principally occupied in looking after his real estate and other investments. He married Helen L. Phelps, daughter of Isaac Newton Phelps, who was descended in the sixth generation from George Phelps, of Windsor, the ancestor of her husband's mother. Her father, who was born in 1802, was a leading banker of New York. His parents were Joseph Phelps and Elizabeth Sadd, and his great-grandparents, Captain Joseph Phelps and Abigail Bissel, daughter of Thomas Bissel, of Connecticut. The mother of Mrs. Stokes was Sarah Maria, daughter of Sylvester and Sarah (King) Lusk, both the Lusk and King families being among the earliest settlers of Connecticut.
The city residence of the family is in Madison Avenue, and their country place is Shadow Brook, near Lenox. They have four sons and five daughters, 1. N. Phelps, J. G. Phelps, of Yale, 1892; Anson Phelps, Jr., of Yale, 1896; Harold M. Phelps, Sarah Phelps, wife of Baron Halkett; Helen Olivia Phelps, Ethel V. Phelps, wife of John Sherman Hoyt; Caroline M. Phelps, and Mildred Phelps. Mr. Stokes is a member of the Tuxedo, Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, Union League, City, Lawyers', Reform, New York Yacht, Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht, Riding, City and Church clubs, the Century Association, the National Academy of Design and the Society of Colonial Wars, and is a patron of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History. He was twice vice-president of the New York Yacht Club and the first president of the Reform Club. He is the author of Joint-Metallism, of which many editions have been published.
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ANDROS BOYDEN STONE
E ARLY in the seventeenth century, the name of Stone appears in Massachusetts. Its representative, Simon Stone, settled in Cambridge in 1635. The late Andros Boyden Stone was born in 1824 at Charlton, Mass., being the youngest son of Amasa Stone and seventh in descent from his Puritan ancestor. Successful energy applied to the concerns of life is a common possession of New Englanders. The career of Andros B. Stone presents, however, features of higher interest, from the predominance of intellectual qualities which made him a leader in the applications of science to industry and in the personal qualities which found expression in a wide and practical sympathy.
Being one of a large family, his educational advantages were slight, and at the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an elder brother to learn carpentering. An opportunity for advancement, however, soon presented itself. His eldest sister married William Howe, the patentee of the Howe truss, which revolutionized bridge building. Of the five Stone brothers, three had already become bridge builders, when, at the early age of eighteen years, Andros was made superin- tendent for his brother-in-law, Mr. Howe, and his brother, Amasa Stone; and, notwithstanding his exacting duties, used every spare moment to supplement his education. Soon after his majority, Mr. Stone formed a partnership and built bridges in the New England States.
Then, attracted by the great West, he formed another partnership with his brother-in-law, the late Lucius B. Boomer, and in 1852 removed to Chicago. In the then undeveloped country, these young men attained a position which could justly be called phenomenal. Mr. Stone was at the head of the firm which secured the Howe patent rights for the States of Illinois, lowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, where railroad building had assumed great activity. Results proved them equal to their opportunity, as they built the first bridge across the Mississippi River at Rock Island, the longest span of a wooden bridge up to that time, as well as the first bridge across the Illinois River, with the largest revolving draw then known, besides completing other important contracts. In addition to this business, the firm manufactured cars in Chicago.
In 1858, Mr. Stone removed to Cleveland, O., and gave his attention to iron manufacturing. He identified himself with a small mill at Newburg, near Cleveland, and giving his entire energy to the scientific features of this industry, he soon became master of the profession. The growth of the business necessitated the formation, in 1863, of the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company, with Mr. Stone as president, which office he filled for fifteen years, and then became vice-president. Constantly creating new departments and introducing new processes, the industry grew under his administration to be the largest enterprise in Cleveland.
The crowning achievement of Mr. Stone's business life was the introduction of the Bessemer steel process in America. He was greatly interested in the new methods of Sir Henry Bessemer, and visited Europe twice to thoroughly investigate the subject. This resulted in the construction of a new steel plant by his company, skilled workmen being also imported, and in 1869 steel rails were first produced in this country from American ore at Cleveland, and sold at one hundred and sixty dollars a ton. This was the foundation of one of the leading industries in the United States, and the entire credit for this epoch-making step is due to Mr. Stone.
It was during these busy years in Cleveland that our country was going through its struggle to preserve the Union, which no one more earnestly supported than Mr. Stone. His modest use of large opportunities was conspicuous in all relations of life. A prominent member of St. Paul's Church, Cleveland, he gave his time to mission work, to the support of which he was also a generous contributor. His rare business capacity naturally brought him prominent positions in various enterprises. He was first president of the American Iron and Steel Association, and throughout his life was an earnest advocate of the protective policy, and wrote able articles upon the subject. Another notable characteristic of Mr. Stone was the friendship he inspired in all who came in contact with him, whether in business or socially. Not only was his career marked by
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lofty integrity, but by scrupulous consideration of the rights of others and an extreme modesty where his own ability was concerned. Among the many tributes by prominent men to him, none was more just than that of his friend, President Garfield, soon after the Bessemer steel experiment had succeeded. President Garfield said, that the foremost citizens were the scientific men of industrial life "like my friend, Mr. A. B. Stone, who," he added, "have nothing to start with but a clear inheritance, the power of self-denial, industry, capacity, in short all New England in their veins. He saw the significance of the great Bessemer idea, made an earnest study of it in Europe and has, through this great industry, helped more than any man I know to determine the prosperity of whole communities. Mr. Stone is what I call a first-rate type of American citizen, the kind we must multiply if we do not want this tremendous experiment to go to pieces."
In 1871, Mr. Stone removed to New York, making his home on Murray Hill. He was married early in life to the daughter of the Reverend J. B. Boomer, of Worcester, Mass., a lady whose family on both sides occupied prominent positions, having in three generations produced several distinguished clergymen of Worcester County, and who by birth and training was fitted to fill the responsible place she has always held in ministries for the good of others. From early life, Mrs. Stone has used her pen with ability, publishing books as well as essays, but she has always disclaimed ambition as a writer except for benevolent work, asserting that woman's noblest opportunity in life was to help others through the influences of home life, her success in such directions being one which will endure in many grateful memories. In the thirteen years of their residence in Cleveland, Mr. and Mrs. Stone's home in Euclid Avenue was the centre around which the literary, musical and artistic circles of that city gathered.
The time of Mr. and Mrs. Stone's early residence in New York was an epoch of brilliant luminaries in the literary world of our city. Besides William Cullen Bryant, E. C. Stedman, Professor Youmans, and R. H. Stoddard, able writers like Dr. Holland, Bayard Taylor, John Hay, Noah Brooks, Whitelaw Reid, Bret Harte, W. D. Howells, Thomas W. Knox and others became residents here. Mr. Hay married a niece of Mr. Stone and was their intimate acquaintance in Paris. Naturally, the doors of their home were open wide to him and his talented coworkers, so that it was not long before the Stone house, 13 East Thirty-sixth, Street, became a centre for cultivated people. Informal gatherings there, with so responsive a host and hostess, as well as brilliant receptions for men of the highest positions, made a unique chapter in the social life of New York, which has never been repeated. Mrs. Stone was a founder and the first president, 1889-1891, of the Wednesday Afternoon Club.
Mr. and Mrs. Stone were hearty coworkers in religious and benevolent causes. About five years after coming to New York, Mr. Stone became interested in what was being accomplished for poor children, which thrilled his generous heart, and from that time he gave his untiring energy to the work of the Children's Aid Society. He became a trustee, and proved one of its greatest benefactors, giving regular hours of his time to its affairs as long as he lived. In a letter to Charles L. Brace, Mr. Stone said, with characteristic feeling, "I have not been up and down the streets of New York without having my heart touched with pity for the poor children, and often ask myself what can I do to make their hard lives more comfortable and happy." Mr. Stone made his own answer by a gift, which is his lasting monument. The summer home at Bath Beach, Long Island, where so many little ones are made happy, given to the society in 1881, represents a value of one hundred thousand dollars, and over eighty thousand children have enjoyed the benefits of his generous humanity.
His earnest, sincere life peacefully ended December 15th, 1896. A devoted member of Grace Church, the founder of one of the great industries of our country, the donor of a permanent home for helpless children, he left an honorable record in all phases of life. Mr. and Mrs. Stone's family consists of twin daughters ; one of them resides in New York and is the widow of Francis F. Marbury; the other is the wife of Dr. Arthur Little, an English physician, of the Island of Jersey. Twelve years ago Mr. and Mrs. Stone changed their residence from Murray Hill to 150 Central Park South, where Mrs. Stone still resides.
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JOSEPH SUYDAM STOUT
A N old-time merchant and banker of New York City, Andrew Varick Stout, father of Mr. Joseph Suydam Stout, was descended from several of the pioneer families of Manhattan Island. He was born in New York early in the present century, and died at his country home in Bernardsville, N. J., in 1883, at the age of seventy-one. He received a substantial education, and at the age of eighteen became a teacher in the public schools. After a few years of teaching, he became manager of the New York Orphan Asylum and later on went into business, establishing the firm of Stout & Ward. He was eminently successful in his business ventures and accumulated a fortune. His prominence as a busi- ness man led to his identification with financial enterprises. He became vice-president of the Shoe and Leather Bank, and in 1855 was advanced to the presidency, holding the latter position for twenty-eight years. He was a director of the New York Mutual Gas Light Com- pany, the Loan and Improvement Company, the New York and Brooklyn Ferry Company, the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company, the Broadway Fire Insurance Company and the American Bank Note Company.
Maintaining an interest in municipal affairs, Mr. Stout was at one time a member of the Board of Education. He was originally a Democrat and a supporter of Fernando Wood, and when Mr. Wood was Mayor of the city he appointed Mr. Stout City Chamberlain. When the disturbances occurred over the metropolitan police force, during Mayor Wood's adminis- tration, Mr. Stout advanced the money necessary for the payment of the police from his own private funds. When the Civil War broke out, he was numbered among the war Democrats, who became Republicans upon the issues of that period. He was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, being a trustee of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church. Before his death he gave forty thousand dollars each to Wesleyan University and Drew Theological Seminary, the leading educational institutions of the Methodist Church. The wife of Mr. Stout, Almira H. Stout, survived him by seven years, dying in 1890. There were two daughters in the family, Jane K. Stout, who married John N. Ewell, banker, of New York, and Almira H. Stout, who married A. Francis Southerland.
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