Abraham Schermerhorn

Abraham Schermerhorn (April 9, 1783 – February 3, 1850)[1] was a wealthy New York City merchant who was also prominent in social affairs.[2] He was the father of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, known as the Mrs. Astor.[3]

This article is about the American merchant. For other uses, see Abraham Schermerhorn (disambiguation).

Abraham Schermerhorn
BornApril 9, 1783
Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1850(1850-02-03) (aged 66)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeGreen-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
OccupationMerchant
Spouse(s)
Helen Van Courtlandt White
​
​
(m. 1809; his death 1850)​
Children9, including Caroline
Parent(s)Peter Schemerhorn
Elizabeth Bussing
RelativesWilliam Astor (son-in-law)
John Jacob Astor IV (grandson)
Eleanor Jones Morris (granddaughter)

Early life

Schermerhorn was born on April 9, 1783 in Hyde Park, New York and baptized in New York City shortly thereafter.[4] He was the third son of merchant Peter Schermerhorn (1749–1826) and Elizabeth (née Bussing) Schemerhorn (1752–1809), who married in 1771.[1] His brother, John P. Schermerhorn was married to Rebecca Stevens, the daughter of Gen. Ebenezer Stevens, and his sister, Jane Schermerhorn, was married to the Rev. William Creighton, S.T.D..[5]

His paternal grandparents were John Schermerhorn (1715–1768) and Sarah (née Cannon) Schermerhorn (1721–1762).[1] Abraham's father Peter was the grandson of Maria Beekman (b. 1692) (herself the granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman,[5] Governor of the Colony of Swedes, Acting Mayor of New York City and founder of the Beekman family in the United States).[6] His maternal grandparents were Abraham Bussing, a dry goods merchant,[7] and Elizabeth (née Mesier) Bussing.[8] He was descended from Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, who settled in New York from the Netherlands in 1636.[5]

Career

Schermerhorn's father, like his grandfather and great-grandfather, was a commander and owner of shipping vessels trading between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina.[9] From 1776 to 1783, during the American Revolutionary War, Schermerhorn and his family lived in Hyde Park, New York to protect their vessels from British seizure. After the war ended, the family returned to New York City.[10]

In 1808, Schermerhorn was admitted to his father's ship-chandlery firm,[4] along with his brother Peter,[11] which was renamed "Peter Schermerhorn & Sons."[3]

In 1810, Schermerhorn and his brother Peter formed a new firm of "Schermerhorn & Co." while still retaining a connection with Peter Schermerhorn & Sons.[12] Two more new companies were later formed, which he became involved with, including "Schermerhorn, Willis & Co." which was located at 53 South Street in New York City.[12]

After his father's death, he inherited 160 acres in Gowanus, Brooklyn which he later sold around 1835 for $600 an acre,[13] (totaling $102,000)[3] and which Green-Wood Cemetery was built on.[14]

Upon the birth of his youngest child, Caroline, in 1830, he was forty-seven years old and estimated to be worth over $500,000 (equivalent to $12,005,000 in 2019).[3]

Personal life

On September 12, 1809,[15] Schermerhorn was married to Helen Van Courtlandt White (1792–1881).[1] Helen, a very good friend of William Backhouse Astor Sr.,[16] was the daughter of Henry White (1763–1822) and Anne (née Van Cortlandt) White (1766–1814) and the granddaughter of Augustus Van Cortlandt,[17] a prominent Loyalist during the War who fled to England, where he died not long after.[3] Together, they were the parents of nine children, including:[3][18]

On February 6, 1829, his wife gave a fancy dress ball at their home, 1 Greenwich Street in New York. They lived there until about 1840, when they moved to 36 Bond Street, where he lived until his death.[12] He was a pew-holder at Grace Church and was a member of the Union Club.[3]

Schermerhorn died in Brooklyn, New York on February 3, 1850.[8] He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[3] His widow died in 1881 in the 90th year of her life. Her funeral was held at Grace Church at the corner of Broadway and East 10th Street.[23]

Descendants

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of Eleanor Colford Jones (1841–1906),[24] who was married to Augustus Newbold Morris (1838–1906), a descendant of Declaration of Independence signor Lewis Morris,[25] and who was a manager of the Home for Incurables at Fordham, a director of the Zoological Society, and a vice-president of the Plaza Bank.[26]

Through his daughter Anna, he was the grandfather of Charles Schermerhorn Suydam (1850–1887), Walter Lispenard Suydam (1854–1830), and Helen Suydam (1858–1919), who married R. Fulton Cutting (1852–1934) (brother of William Bayard Cutting),[27] who married in 1883.[28]

Through his daughter Helen, he was the grandfather of John Treat Irving III (1841–1936), Cortlandt Irving (1844–1915),[29] a lawyer,[30] Helen Cordelia Irving (1846–1929), Frances Rogers Irving (1849–1912), Edward Irving (1854–1880), and Marion Harwood Irving (1860–1877).[17]

Through his daughter Katharine, he was the grandfather of Benjamin Welles (1857–1935)[31] and the great-grandfather of Benjamin Sumner Welles (1892–1961), the United States Ambassador to Cuba and United States Under Secretary of State during Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.[32]

Through his daughter Caroline, he was the grandfather of Emily Astor (1854–1881), who married James John Van Alen (1848–1923), a sportsman/politician,[33] Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893),[34][35] who married James Roosevelt (1854–1927), a diplomat and the elder half-brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Charlotte Augusta Astor (1858–1920), who married James Coleman Drayton and, later, George Ogilvy Haig, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1861–1948), who married Marshall Orme Wilson (brother of banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr. and socialite Grace Wilson Vanderbilt),[36] and John Jacob Astor IV (1864–1912),[37] who married Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958) and, later, married socialite Madeleine Talmage Force (1893–1940), before perishing aboard the Titanic in 1912.[38]

Legacy

Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn, and the New York City Subway's Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets stop that serves Schermerhorn Street, was named in honor of Abraham and his brother Peter.[14]

References
  1. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. p. 138. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  2. Irving, Washington (1969). Journals and notebooks. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780805785043. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  3. Homberger, Eric (2004). Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age. Yale University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0300105150. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  4. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1904). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 203. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  5. Harrison, Mrs. Burton; Lamb, Mrs. Martha J. (1896). HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK; ITS ORIGIN RISE, AND PROGRESS. p. 754. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  6. Aitken, Ph.D., William B. (1912). Distinguished Families in America Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke. New York: Knickerbocker Press. p. 3.
  7. Cutter, William Richard (1913). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation ... Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 46. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  8. Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1915. p. 46. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. Schermerhorn, Richard, Jr. Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles. New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1914.
  10. "Guide to the Peter Schermerhorn papers ARC.089". dlib.nyu.edu. Brooklyn Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  11. Cooper, James Fenimore; Beard, James Franklin (1968). The Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper: 1845-1849. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 28. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  12. Valentine's Manual of Old New-York. Valentine's manual, Incorporated. 1917. p. 279. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  13. Lockwood, Charles (2003). Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House, 1783-1929. Rizzoli. p. 93. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  14. Benardo, Leonard; Weiss, Jennifer (2006). Brooklyn By Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges, and More Got Their Names. NYU Press. p. 51. ISBN 9780814791493. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  15. Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: Who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 142. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  16. "William Astor Is Dead; Stricken Suddenly at the Hotel Liverpool, Paris. He Leaves a Fortune of Many Mill- Ions -- John Jacob Astor Will Inherit It -- the Body Will Be Brought Home for Burial" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1892. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  17. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. p. 84. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  18. Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1410. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  19. "DIED. Jones" (PDF). The New York Times. August 23, 1874. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  20. "DIED. Suydam" (PDF). The New York Times. November 25, 1886. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  21. "DIED. Irving" (PDF). The New York Times. December 21, 1893. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  22. "JOHN TREAT IRVING DEAD.; He Was Graduated from Columbia in 1829 -- Lawyer and Author" (PDF). The New York Times. February 28, 1906. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  23. "DIED. Schermerhorn" (PDF). The New York Times. May 26, 1881. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  24. "Mrs. Eleanor Colford Morris" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1906. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  25. "The Commercial and Financial Chronicle". National News Service, Incorporated. 1906: 542. Retrieved October 15, 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  26. "A. Newbold Morris Dead. He Was A Descendant of Noted Family Which Owned Morrisania" (PDF). The New York Times. September 3, 1906. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  27. "DIED. Cutting" (PDF). The New York Times. June 20, 1919. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  28. "MARRIED. Cutting--Suydam". The New York Times. January 27, 1883. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  29. Columbia University Quarterly. Columbia University Press. 1914. p. 448. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  30. "IRVING ESTATE $106,179.; Relative of Famous Author Leaves Residuary Property to Widow" (PDF). The New York Times. June 25, 1915. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  31. "BENJAMIN WELLES DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Father of Assistant Secretary of State Was Descendant of Colonial Settlers" (PDF). The New York Times. December 27, 1935. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  32. Bohlen, Celestine (January 4, 2002). "Benjamin Welles, Biographer And Journalist, Is Dead at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  33. "JAMES L. VAN ALEN DIES IN PARIS AT 48; Member of Old New York Family, Long Ill, Succumbs With Family at Bedside" (PDF). The New York Times. May 31, 1927. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  34. "DIED. Roosevelt" (PDF). The New York Times. November 14, 1893. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  35. "MRS. HELEN ROOSEVELT'S WILL.; Application for Its Probate Filed at Poughkeepsie -- Its Provisions" (PDF). The New York Times. November 26, 1893. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  36. "A WEDDING AMID FLOWERS; THE MARRIAGE OF MISS ASTOR AND MR. WILSON. | MANY PRINCELY PRESENTS | A NECKLACE THAT COST $75,000 | BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES OF WORTH'S ART" (PDF). The New York Times. November 19, 1884. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  37. "An Age of Splendor, and Hotel One-Upmanship". The New York Times. June 18, 2006. His younger cousin, known as Jack, enrolled in Harvard, left without a degree, traveled and joined 'about two dozen clubs.' He tinkered with inventions, married unwisely and, inspired by Jules Verne, wrote a work of science fiction. Often ridiculed in the press, he bore the sobriquet 'Jack Ass.'
  38. "Noted Men On The Lost Titanic. Col. Jacob Astor, with His Wife. Isidor Straus and Wife, and Benj. Guggenheim Aboard". The New York Times. April 16, 1912. Retrieved December 10, 2013. Following are sketches of a few of the well-known persons among the 1,300 passengers on the lost Titanic. The fate of most of them at this time is, of course, not known. Col. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Astor, Isidor Straus and Mrs. Straus, J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line: Benjamin Guggenheim, and Frank D. Millet, the artist, are perhaps the most widely known of the passengers.....
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