Samuel B. H. Vance

Samuel B. H. Vance (1814 – August 10, 1890) as a Republican President of the New York City Board of Aldermen from 1873 to 1874, briefly became Acting Mayor of New York City between the death of the elected Mayor William Havemeyer on November 30, 1874, and the inauguration of his elected successor, William H. Wickham on January 1, 1875.

Samuel B. H. Vance
Mayor of New York City
Acting
In office
November 30, 1874 – December 31, 1874
Preceded byWilliam Frederick Havemeyer
Succeeded byWilliam H. Wickham
Personal details
Born1814
Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 10, 1890
Douglaston, New York
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Augusta Blanche Hall

Early life

He was born in 1814 to a distinguished family in Pennsylvania.

Career

He served as a captain of volunteers in the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. In 1854, Vance began participating in a series of firms making gas and electric lighting fixtures in New York City, twice succeeding company presidents who had died. He was elected to the New York City Board of Education in 1860, and to the Board of Aldermen in 1871[1] and was then chosen to be the latter's president on January 7, 1873, leading in turn to his one-month tenure as acting mayor in December 1874.

In 1885, he was one of three commissioners appointed by the New York Supreme Court to study surface transportation on lower Broadway between Union Square West and The Battery (what is now New York's Financial District). The commission recommended that, because of increased traffic and commercial density in this area, the Broadway Surface Railroad Company be granted a franchise to start and operate a horse (rather than cable) drawn line along this route.[2] (While a horse-drawn line did start in 1885, a traction cable was installed eight years later.)

Personal life

Vance was married to Augusta Blanche Hall. They lived at a mansion on 30 West 57th Street. Together, they were the parents of:

  • Nannie Mitchell Vance (1860–1912), who married John Ellis Roosevelt (1853–1939), the son of ex-Congressman Robert B. Roosevelt, in 1879.[3] Although Vance was a Republican, the groom's father was a former Democratic New York City Alderman and Congressman (and future Ambassador) who was in turn an uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, the future Mayoral candidate and President.

After leaving a full day of work on Friday, August 8, 1890, Samuel Vance sought several days of rest at his home in Douglaston, Long Island, but died shortly after midnight on Sunday, August 10, 1890, at the age of 76. His widow died in Sayville, Long Island on Wednesday, June 19, 1901. They are buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[4][5][6]

Descendants

Through his daughter Fannie, he was the grandfather of Anita Blanche "Pansy" Roosevelt (1882–1929),[7][8] who was "ill from nervous prostration in a sanitarium in New York" in 1903,[9] Gladys Roosevelt (1889–1926), who married Fairman Rogers Dick (1885–1976), son of Evans Rogers Dick in 1913. Fairman's sister, Isabelle Mildred Dick (1884–1972) was married to Stuyvesant Fish, Jr. (1883–1952), and stood up in their wedding,[10] Gladys was killed in a horse riding accident at the Meadow Brook Hunt Club in 1926.[11][12] and Jean Schermerhorn Roosevelt (1891–1984),[13] who married Philip James Roosevelt (1892–1941), a cousin and the son of Emlen Roosevelt, in 1925.[14][15]

References
  1. But could not take his seat without the physical enforcement of a court order displacing the previous Aldermen: see Exciting Scene in the Chamber of the Board of Aldermen, The New York Times, January 2, 1872, page 2, retrieved without charge on June 1, 2008
  2. HORSE CARS IN BROADWAY; THE DECISION MADE BY THE COMMISSIONERS.FINDING THAT A RAILWAY IS NEEDED AND THAT IT SHOULD BE A HORSE CAR LINE,NOT A CABLE ROAD. The New York Times, Wednesday, March 13, 1885, page 8, retrieved without charge on June 1, 2008
  3. "THE VANCE-ROOSEVELT WEEDING.; MR. JOHN E. ROOSEVELT UNITED TO MISS NANNIE MITCHELL VANCE--SOME OF THE PRESENTS" (PDF). The New York Times. February 20, 1879. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  4. "Burial Search". Green-Wood Cemetery. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  5. "The Burial of S. B. H. Vance". New York Times. August 15, 1890. p. 8.
  6. "Death notice, Augusta Blanche Hay Vance" (PDF). New York Times. June 20, 1901.
  7. Times, Special To The New York (30 October 1912). "MRS. J.E. ROOSEVELT ESTATE; Valued at $25,000 and Goes to Her Two Daughters". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  8. Depew, Chauncey M. (October 20, 2013). Titled Americans, 1890: A list of American ladies who have married foreigners of rank. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781783660056. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  9. "Miss Pansy Roosevelt III". The New York Times. 6 January 1903. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  10. "Miss Gladys Roosevelt's Wedding" (PDF). New York Times. November 8, 1913. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  11. "Mrs. F.R. Dick Dies In Hunting Accident". New York Times. November 23, 1926. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  12. Times, Special To The New York (9 November 1926). "MRS. DICK WILLS BULK OF ESTATE TO HUSBAND; Sister and Father Share Rest of Property of Woman Killed in Fall Off Horse". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  13. "Luncheon for Miss Jean Roosevelt". The New York Times. 22 December 1909. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  14. "Died. Philip James Roosevelt, 49". TIME. 1941-11-17.
  15. "untitled". Time. Time, Inc. 1925-05-18. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
Political offices
Preceded by
William Frederick Havemeyer		 Mayor of New York City (acting)
1874		 Succeeded by
William H. Wickham
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