William Gurdon Saltonstall

William Gurdon Saltonstall
BornDecember 22, 1831
Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 1889 (1889-07-22) (aged 57)
Domodossola, Italy
Service / branchNavy
WarsAmerican Civil War
FamilySaltonstall family
Saltonstall's Back Bay residence, designed by Peabody & Stearns

William Gurdon Saltonstall (December 22, 1831 – July 21, 1889) was an American naval officer during the U.S. Civil War and a prominent merchant.

Early life

Saltonstall was born on December 22, 1831, in Salem, Massachusetts, into the prominent Saltonstall family. He was a younger son of lawyer Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784–1838) and Caroline (née Saunders) Saltonstall (1793–1882).[1] His brother Henry Saltonstall was treasurer of the Pacific Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall and Anna (née White) Saltonstall of Haverhill. His paternal uncle, U.S. Representative Leverett Saltonstall I, married his maternal aunt, Mary Elizabeth Saunders, and his first cousin was Leverett Saltonstall II, the Collector of Customs for the Port of Boston who married Rose Smith Lee, a sister of William's wife. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Saunders and Elizabeth (née Elkins) Saunders.[3]

Career

During the U.S. Civil War, Saltonstall commanded in succession two gunboats in the Federal Navy and rendered distinguished service.[4] He "rose from the position of supercargo to master" and was appointed acting lieutenant of the Minnesota.[1] During the blockade off of the Carolinas especially, he won commendation for "gallant conduct" while commander of a gunboat,[2] and in the Little Washington affair made himself known as a brave officer.[5] He left the Navy as Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander.[6] He later became a Companion of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

After the war, he became a merchant and was treasurer of the York Manufacturing Company,[5] as well as the Everett Mills.[1] He also served as a director of the New England Bank, the Bell Telephone Company, and the Boylston Insurance Company.[1]

Personal life

In 1867, Saltonstall was married to Josephine Rose Lee (1843–1889), the youngest daughter of Harriet Paine (née Rose) Lee and John Clarke Lee, founder of Lee, Higginson & Co.[7] Together, they were the parents of:[8]

  • Robert Saltonstall (1870–1938), who married Caroline James Stevenson, a daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Hooper Stevenson (brother of Thomas G. Stevenson), in 1904.[9]
  • Lucy Sanders Saltonstall (1871–1947), who married Neal Rantoul.[10]
  • John Lee Saltonstall (1878–1959), who married Gladys Durant Rice, a daughter of Dr. Clarence Charles Rice, in 1910.[11]
  • Rosamund Saltonstall (1881–1953),[12] who married Charles Crooke Auchincloss, son of Edgar Stirling Auchincloss and brother of James C. Auchincloss, in 1906.[13]

For many years he lived with his mother on Chestnut Street but not long before his death, his winter residence was on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, and his summer home was at Beverly Farms.[2]

Saltonstall died of heart disease at Domo d'Ossola, Italy, a town near the Swiss border, on July 21, 1889.[5] He had gone abroad in hopes of improving his health, which had declined since the death of his wife in January 1889.[1]

Descendants

Through his son Robert, he was a grandfather of William Gurdon Saltonstall (1905–1989), the 8th Principal of Phillips Exeter Academy.[14]

Through his son John, he was a grandfather of John L. Saltonstall Jr., Elizabeth Lee Saltonstall, who married August Belmont IV[15][16] and Richard Lockwood Tower,[17] and Jean Saltonstall (1921–2011), who married Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee of Watergate infamy, and after their divorce, and Oscar Hausserman Jr.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "OBITUARY: WILLIAM G. SALTONSTALL". Boston Post. 23 July 1889. p. 9. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "DIED IN AN INTALIAN PASS. William G. Saltonstall's Honorable Career at an End". The Boston Globe. 23 July 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1922. p. 211. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  4. ^ Saltonstall, William Gurdon (1913). Reminiscences of the Civil War, and Autobiography. Privately printed. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Obituary Notes: William G. Saltonstall". The New York Times. 23 July 1889. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. ^ Massachusetts, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the State of (1891). Register of the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts: Constitution and By-laws. p. 296. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. ^ Willson, Edmund Burke (1878). Memorial of John Clarke Lee. Salem Press. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Josephine Rose Lee Saltonstall Recipe book, 1871-1918. A/S1789". hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu. Cambridge, Mass.: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ Morse, Frances Rollins (1926). Henry and Mary Lee, Letters and Journals: With Other Family Letters, 1802-1860. Privately printed. pp. xii, 280. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  10. ^ Times, Special to the New York (8 November 1947). "MRS. NEAL RANTOUL". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  11. ^ of 1900, Harvard College (1780-) Class (1921). Secretary's Fifth Report. Plimpton Press. p. 400. Retrieved 3 June 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "MRS. C. C. AUCHINCLOSS". The New York Times. 5 February 1953. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Charles C. Auchincloss Dead; Lawyer and Stockbroker, 79". The New York Times. 15 May 1961. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  14. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller (1989-12-21). "William G. Saltonstall, 84, Dies; Was Principal of Phillips Exeter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  15. ^ "MISS SALTONSTALL TO BECOME BRIDE; Her Betrothal to August Belmont of This City Is Announced in Boston.WEDDING WILL BE IN JUNEFiance Is Harvard Student and Member of Family Noted in New York Finance". The New York Times. 2 March 1931. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  16. ^ "A. BELMONT 4TH DIVORCED; He Obtains Decree in Reno From Former Miss Saltonstall". The New York Times. 8 December 1945. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Tower--Belmont". The New York Times. 10 April 1946. Retrieved 3 June 2022.