Robert Goelet Sr.

Robert Goelet (September 19, 1809 – September 22, 1879) was an American businessman and co-founder of the Chemical Bank of New York.

Robert Goelet
Born(1809-09-19)September 19, 1809
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 1879(1879-09-22) (aged 70)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma materColumbia College
Spouse(s)
Sarah Ogden
​
(
m. 1839; his death 1879)
ChildrenRobert Goelet
Helen Goelet
Ogden Goelet
Parent(s)Peter P. Goelet
Almy Buchanan Goelet
RelativesSee Goelet family

Early life

Goelet was born on September 19, 1809 to "one of the oldest and most respected [families] in the City." He was the youngest of four children born to Almy (née Buchanan) Goelet (1768–1848) and Peter P. Goelet (1764–1828).[1] His siblings were Peter Goelet, who was named after their grandfather Peter Goelet;[2] Jean Buchanan Goelet;[3] and Hannah Green Goelet, who married Thomas Russell Gerry, son of U.S. Vice President Elbridge Gerry and parents to Elbridge Thomas Gerry.[4] His father, a hardware merchant based at 48 Hanover Square (later known as 113 and 115 Pearl Streets), was a large land-owner, including the "Goelet farm" which Robert's elder brother Peter inherited at Broadway and 19th Street.[5][6]

His maternal grandparents were Almy (née Townsend) Buchanan and Thomas Buchanan, a merchant with Thomas Buchanan & Son at 44 Wall Street.[7] Goelet's maternal aunt, Margaret Buchanan, was married to his paternal uncle, Robert Ratsey Goelet.[7] His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth (née Ratsey) Goelet and Peter Goelet,[8] a prominent merchant and landowner who was a descendant of Huguenots from La Rochelle in France, who escaped to Amsterdam.[9] During the Revolutionary War, his grandfather was a member of the Sons of Liberty, the Committee of Correspondence, and the Committee of One Hundred.[1]

He graduated from Columbia College in 1828.[10]

Career

Goelet was a prominent landowner and landlord in New York and generally followed his brothers real estate rule, which was to "never to part with a foot of land the title of which had been once vested in the Goelet family."[2]

Robert, along with his brother, were instrumental in founding the Chemical Bank and Trust Company.[1] While neither of them were directors (Robert's son Robert became a director in 1878), both Robert and Peter were among the largest stockholders of the bank when it was rechartered as a state bank in 1844.[11] Today, through various mergers, the bank is known as JPMorgan Chase.[12]

Personal life

On October 16, 1839, Goelet was married to Sarah Ogden (1809–1888), a daughter of Jonathan Ogden and Charlotte Eliza (née Walton) Ogden.[13] Together, they lived at 5 State Street in Manhattan, overlooking the Battery and were the parents of:[14]

Goelet died on September 22, 1879 at 857 Broadway, his residence in New York City.[5] After a funeral at St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church, he was buried in the Ogden family vault at the New York Marble Cemetery.[22] In his will, he left his wife "all his jewelry, plate, ornaments, horses, carriages, furniture, and paintings, and an annuity of $40,000 in lieu of dower, payable in quarterly installments."[23] The remainder of his estate, which in total was estimated at from $6,000,000 to $10,000,000, was left to his two sons in "equal shares."[23] Two months after Robert's death, his brother Peter, who never married and was known for his many eccentricities, also died.[2][24] Aside from $500,000 left to his nephew Elbridge Gerry, the rest of Peter's estate went to Robert's sons.[25]

Descendants
Main article: Goelet family

Through his eldest son Robert, he was a grandfather of Robert Walton Goelet, a financier and real estate developer,[26] and Beatrice Goelet, who died of pneumonia at age 17 in 1902 and was painted as a child by John Singer Sargent.[27]

Through his son Ogden, he was a grandfather of Mary Goelet,[28] the wife of Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe,[29][30] and Robert Wilson Goelet, the original owner of Glenmere mansion.[31][32]

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References
  1. N.Y.), Chemical Bank and Trust Company (New York (1913). History of the Chemical Bank, 1823-1913. Country Life Press. pp. 101–104. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  2. "An Eccentric Man Gone; Death of Peter Goelet, in His Eightieth Year. Yielding to the Advance of Old Age-- Peculiarities of Mr. Goelet's Career --Economy Without Meanness--Tenacious Hold of Real Estate" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 November 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  3. Van Pelt, Daniel (1898). Leslie's History of the Greater New York: Encyclopedia of New York biography and genealogy. Arkell Publishing Company. pp. 16, 34, 35. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  4. Association, New York University Alumni (1894). Biographical Catalogue of the Chancellors: Professors and Graduates of the Department of Arts and Science of the University of the City of New York ... Alumni Association. p. 96. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  5. "Death of Robert Goelet" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 September 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. Beach, Moses Yale (1846). The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York: Being an Alphabetical Arrangement of the Most Prominent Capitalist ... : Also, a Valuable Table of Statistics Concerning the Wealth of the City of New York. Sun Office. p. 13.
  7. Scoville, Joseph Alfred (1968). The Old Merchants of New York City. Greenwood Press. p. 46. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  8. The World Almanac and Encyclopedia. Press Publishing Company (The New York World). 1916. p. 626. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. Lyman Horace Weeks, 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, New York: The Historical Company, 1897
  10. Catalogus collegii Columbiani, Neo-Eboracensis: complectens nomina eorum, qui aliquo gradu fuerunt ornati : et eorum, qui in eo auctotitatem [sic] qualemcunque exercuerunt, nomine rectorum, seu moderatorum, seu coratorum : nec non senatus academici : ab origine, ad annum 1814, inclusum. Typis Petrus Van Pelt. 1815. p. 55.
  11. "The Chemical Bank's President; His Sudden Death on New Year's Night a Sketch of His Career History of the Great Institution Over Which He Presided" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 January 1878. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  12. "GOELET BUILDING (now SWISS CENTER BUILDING)," (PDF). s-media.nyc.gov. Landmarks Preservation Commission. January 14, 1992. p. 2. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  13. Hone, Philip (2009). The Diary of Philip Hone. Applewood Books. p. 384. ISBN 9781429021166. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  14. Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society: Advanced Sheets, First Series. New York City: Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1902. p. 28. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. "DEATH OF ROBERT GOELET | Heart Disease Causes the End Unexpectedly at Naples. | CAREER OF THE MILLIONAIRE | His Public Spirit and Benevolence Were of Material Benefit to New York and Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. April 28, 1899. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  16. "MRS. ROBERT GOELET DIES IN PARIS HOME Prominent American Hostess's Death Follows an Operation for Cancer. | BODY TO BE BROUGHT HERE | Entertained German Emperor on Her Yacht Nahma--History of Goelet Real Estate Fortune" (PDF). The New York Times. December 5, 1912. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  17. "The Goelet-Warren Wedding" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 April 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  18. Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). 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. p. 509. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  19. "DEATH OF OGDEN GOELET; American Millionaire Expires on His Yacht, Mayflower, at Anchor in Cowes Roads. | ILL FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS | He Worried over Family Affairs, Particularly the Proposed Marriage of His Daughter to the Duke of Manchester". The New York Times. 28 August 1897. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  20. "MRS. OGDEN GOELET DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Duchess of Roxburghe's Mother Long Noted for Her Lavish Entertaining. WAS HOSTESS TO ROYALTY Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, Among Guests--Sister of Mrs. Cornellus Vanderbilt and R.T. Wilson. Her Hospitality. Duchess of Roxburghe Daughter". The New York Times. 24 February 1929. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  21. Broderick, Mosette (2010). Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 167. ISBN 9780307594273. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  22. "Funeral of Robert Goelet" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 September 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  23. "Robert Goelets Will" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 October 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  24. "Miscellaneous City News; Peter Goelet's Funeral. the Interment in a Vault in St. Mark's Church-Yard" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 November 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  25. "Peter Goelet's Will; Dividing an Estate That May Be Worth Twenty Millions" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 December 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  26. "ROBERT W. GOELET DIES IN HOME AT 61. Corporation Director, Owner of Large Realty Holdings Here, Succumbs to Heart Attack. He Inherited $60,000,000. Sportsman, a Leader in Social Circles in Newport and New York, Kin of Early Settlers" (PDF). New York Times. May 3, 1941. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  27. "MISS BEATRICE GOELET DEAD. Only Daughter of the Late Robert Goelet Succumbs to Attack of Pneumonia" (PDF). The New York Times. February 12, 1902. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  28. Times, Wireless To The New York (27 April 1937). "DOWAGER DUCHESS OF ROXBURGHE DIES; New York Heiress Was a Close Friend of King George V and Queen Mary". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  29. "Marriage Announcement". New York Times. September 3, 1903.
  30. Times, Wireless To The New York (7 August 1929). "DUCHESS INHERITS FORTUNE; Former Miss Goelet Receives $3,000,000 From Mother's Estate". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  31. "Chester Mansion Restored to Glory. A Battle over Frogs". Times Herald-Record. February 7, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-26. Built by real-estate magnate Robert Goelet, whose family helped found Chemical Bank, the building had been reincarnated as an upscale hotel that ran aground in the 1960s and as a wedding banquet hall that was shuttered in 2007, among other efforts.
  32. Foreman, John (14 November 2012). "Big Old Houses: A Better Fate Than Many". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
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