Frederic Bronson

For the Ottawa businessman, see Frederic Erskine Bronson.
Frederic Bronson
Born(1851-07-20)July 20, 1851
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 29, 1900(1900-03-29) (aged 61)
Palermo, Italy
Resting placeOak Lawn Cemetery
Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materColumbia College
Columbia Law School
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1875⁠–⁠1900)​
ChildrenElizabeth Duer Bronson
Parent(s)Frederic Bronson
Charlotte Brinckerhoff
RelativesIsaac Bronson (grandfather)

Frederic D. Bronson, Jr. (July 20, 1851 – March 29, 1900) was a prominent American lawyer during the Gilded Age in New York City.[1]

Early life

Bronson was born on July 20, 1851, in New York City.[1] He was the son of Frederic Bronson (1802–1868), and Charlotte (née Brinckerhoff) Bronson (1818–1861).[2] He was the brother of Charlotte Troup Bronson, who married Egerton Leigh Winthrop,[3] Louisa Bronson, who married H. H. Hunnewell Jr. the son of Paris and Boston merchant banker Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, and Maria Bronson.[4]

He was the paternal grandson of Isaac Bronson, and a member of the extended Bronson family, which was prominent in business and society, including his uncle, Dr. Oliver Bronson.[5][6] His maternal grandparents were James Lefferts Brinckerhoff and Charlotte (née Troup) Brinckerhoff,[4] daughter of Lt. Col. Robert Troup and Jannetje (née Goelet) Troup.[7] His aunt Maria Lousia Brinckerhoff (1816–1866), was married to Robert Livingston Pell (1811–1880), a grandson of James Duane.[8]

Career

Morris graduated from Columbia College in 1870, and later, Columbia Law School, in 1873.[9][10]

He was a director of the Savings Bank for Merchants' Clerks and the treasurer of the New York Life and Trust Company, which was founded by his grandfather, Isaac Bronson. He also served as a trustee of Columbia University from 1896 until his death in 1900.[9] From his election in 1893 until his death, he was a manager of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the City of New York.[11]

Society life

In 1892, Bronson and his wife were both included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[12]

He served as the president of the New York Coaching Club, trustee of the City Club,[13] vice-president of the Union Club in 1898. He was also a member of the Knickerbocker Club, Racquet and Tennis Club, Country Club, Metropolitan Club, Down Town Club, Riding Club, Church Club, and New York Yacht Club.[9]

Personal life

In 1875, he was married to Sarah Gracie King (1850–1931).[14] She was the daughter of Archibald Gracie King and Elizabeth Denning (née Duer) King, and the granddaughter of U.S. Representative James Gore King and William Alexander Duer. She was also the sister of May Denning King, who married John King Van Rensselaer, son of Henry Bell Van Rensselaer and grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the patroon of Rensselaerwyck.[15] Her brother, Frederick Gore King (b. 1852), was the father of Alice Gore King. The Bronsons lived at 174 Madison Avenue[16] and had a country home, "Verna" in Southport, Connecticut[17] (which later became the Fairfield Country Day School).[18] Together, they were the parents of:

Bronson died of pneumonia in Palermo, Italy on March 29, 1900,[22] after completing a Mediterranean voyage on Augusta Victoria, a luxury ship owned by North German Lloyd.[9] His funeral was held at Grace Church in Manhattan,[23] officiated by Bishop Henry C. Potter and he was buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Connecticut.[24] The honorary pallbearers at his funeral were Frank Knight Sturgis, Adrian Iselin, Jr., Dr. Francis Delafield, W. Bayard Cutting, George L. Rives, Johnston Livingston, A. J. Cassatt, Charles Gould, John Nish, and F. Delano Weeks.[24]

His widow, then 63, remarried in 1914 to his friend, Adrian Iselin, the banker who was then 67.[25] She died in 1931.[14][26]

References

  1. ^ a b "DEATH LIST OF A DAY. Frederic Bronson". The New York Times. 30 March 1900. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  2. ^ Sibley, Harriet (Bronson) (1917). Bronson Lineage 1636-1917 | Ancestors and Descendants of Captain William Bronson of the Revolutionary War, and Other Ancestral Lines. Dallas, Oregon. Retrieved 16 October 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "Charlotte Winthrop (1863-1893)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Robert Troup Papers" (PDF). archives.nypl.org. New York Public Library. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. ^ Haeger, John D. (1981). The Investment Frontier: New York Businessmen and the Economic Development of the Old Northwest. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780873955300. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Bronson family papers 1790-1875". archives.nypl.org. New York Public Library. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  7. ^ Allen, Cameron (2013). The History of the American Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Paris (1815-1980). iUniverse. p. 22. ISBN 9781475937817. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Robert Troup Papers 1771-1870". New York Public Library Research Collections. Retrieved 2008-02-02. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d "Obituary". Columbia Daily Spectator. 30 March 1900. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  10. ^ University, Columbia (1900). Annual Report of President Low to the Trustees 1889/90-1900/01. the University. p. 1. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  11. ^ Assembly, New York (State) Legislature (1908). Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. pp. 45–46. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  12. ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  13. ^ "MR. KELLY'S RESIGNATION ACCEPTED.; The City Club Also Appointed Frederic Bronson to be Its Treasurer". The New York Times. January 9, 1894. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  14. ^ a b "MRS. ADRIAN ISELIN DIES IN HER SLEEP; Wife of Banking House's Head Is Stricken in Her 81st Year. A SOCIETY CONSERVATIVE Was a Descendant of the King, Duer and Gracie Families, Long Prominent in This City". The New York Times. 5 April 1931. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  15. ^ Sullivan, Robert G. (1911). "Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Van Rensselaer Vol. IV". www.schenectadyhistory.org. Schenectady County Public Library. pp. 1814–1821. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  16. ^ Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1904. p. 55. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Bronson Windmill". ghvis.com. Greenfield Hill Improvement Society. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  18. ^ "History". www.fairfieldcountryday.org. Fairfield Country Day School. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  19. ^ "MRS. L. C. GRISCOM DEAD.; Wife of ex-Ambassador to Rome Succumbs in Hotel St. Regis". The New York Times. 17 November 1914. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  20. ^ "GRISCOM-BRONSON NUPTIALS.; United States Minister to Persia Takes a Wife in London". The New York Times. 3 November 1901. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  21. ^ "LLOYD C. GRISCOM TO WED IN ENGLAND; New York Lawyer Will Marry Miss Audrey M.E. Crosse of Southsea on Oct. 3. A LEICESTERSHIRE BRIDAL Ceremony to Take Place at Marston Trussell Hall, Home of the Bride-Elect's Uncle". The New York Times. 18 September 1929. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  22. ^ Browning, Charles H. (1911). Americans of Royal Descent: Collection of Genealogies Showing the Lineal Descent from Kings of Some American Families ... Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 353. ISBN 9780806300542. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  23. ^ "Funeral of Frederic Bronson". The New York Times. 20 April 1900. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  24. ^ a b "FREDERIC BRONSON'S FUNERAL.; The Services at Grace Church -- Burial in Connecticut". The New York Times. 22 April 1900. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  25. ^ "ADRIAN ISELIN AND MRS. BRONSON WED; Banker and Widow of Frederic Bronson Married in Rectory of St. Patrick's Cathedral". The New York Times. 20 February 1914. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  26. ^ "MRS. ISELIN'S FUNERAL.; 200 Persons of Prominence at the Services in Grace Church". The New York Times. 7 April 1931. Retrieved 16 October 2017.