Isaac Vail Brokaw

Isaac Vail Brokaw (November 27, 1835 – September 29, 1913) was a pioneer New York City clothing merchant who headed Brokaw Brothers.[1]

Isaac Vail Brokaw
Born(1835-11-27)November 27, 1835
Plainfield, New Jersey, US
DiedSeptember 29, 1913(1913-09-29) (aged 77)
Elberon, New Jersey, US
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Elvira Tuttle Gould
​
(m. 1860)​
Children7, including George and Irving Brokaw
Signature

Early life

He was born in November 27, 1835 in Plainfield, New Jersey to Simeon Brokaw (1792–1854) and Prudence Vail (1795–1887). His siblings included Jemima Vail Brokaw (1824–1838) and William Vail Brokaw (1831–1907).[2]

His paternal grandparents were Isaac Brokaw (1759–1838), who fought in the American Revolution, and Maria (née Van Nortwick) Brokaw (1759–1826).[2] His mother's side of the family were the Vail Quakers of New Jersey.[1] He was descended from Bourgeon Broucard,[2] a French Huguenot who settled on Long Island in 1675 and founded the first French Protestant church in New York.[3]

Career

Brokaw went into business with the cloth importing firm of Wilson G. Hunt & Co.[4][5] In 1856, Brokaw organized a clothing firm with his brother which they called Brokaw Brothers.[1] The business sold:

Boys' and children's outfits in every style; men's garments of all kinds, adapted to all seasons, load the long counters and the immediate shelves of this extensive establishment. Each season finds them changing their make and style to suite the various wants of the time, and nothing which the most fashionable custom houses in the City produce is wanting to the stock of Brokaw Brothers.[6]

Brokaw was a Republican in politics, though he never held office. He was a member of the Union League Club[2] and the Huguenot Society.[1]

After Brokaw's death in 1913, his son Howard became president and head of the clothing firm.[7][8]

Residence
Brokaw home on 5th Avenue

In 1887, Brokaw hired Rose & Stone to build a mansion for him at Fifth Avenue and 79th Street. The grand and imposing mansion was completed in 1891.[9]

In 1905, Brokaw built twin Gothic style adjoining houses at 984 and 985 5th Avenue, designed by Charles Frederic Rose, for Howard and Irving.[10] Henry Mandel attempted to purchase the homes in 1940.[11] The land where the properties were was bought by Bernard Spitzer in 1968.[12]

In 1911, Brokaw built 7 East 79th Street for his daughter, Elvira, designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle.

After his death, his wife and youngest son, George, lived in the mansion. After his wedding in 1923 to Clare Boothe, they lived in the house together. After his mother's death in 1926, George filed a lawsuit requesting permission to tear down the mansion and erect an apartment house. He also asked that his brothers, Irving and Howard, who opposed the demolition plans, be prevented from interfering with the new building.[10] George won his suit and in November of the same year and filed plans for the construction of a 13‐story building.[13] The Supreme Court, however, reversed its decision on appeal and the plans were dropped.[10] Again in 1928, George sued for permission to tear down the mansion, but lost on grounds that his father's will would be violated.[14]

After George's death in 1935, his daughter inherited half of the house. After the daughter's death in an automobile accident, George's ex-wife, Clare, sold her share to her then husband, Henry Luce.[10] After being designated a landmark by the City of New York, Brokaw's home was torn down in 1964.[10]

Philanthropy

Following the death of his eldest son, Frederick, in 1891, Brokaw paid for The Brokaw Memorial at Princeton University, in memory of his son's tragic death.[15] The $42,000 gift, made in 1892, was for a memorial athletic grounds.[16] The building was completed and in use by 1896.[17]

In 1893, he donated $50,000 to the Madison Avenue Reformed Church, on the corner of Madison Avenue and Fifty-Seventh Street, so they could build a missionary building.[18] Abbott Eliot Kittredge, then pastor of the Church, was in charge of raising funds to purchase land where the missionary could be built upon.[18]

Personal life

On November 14, 1860, he married Elvira Tuttle Gould (1840–1926), the daughter of Joseph Paxton Gould (1804–1880) and Eloise Elvira Tuttle (1808–1860), in Newark, New Jersey.[2] Her brother was George Tuttle Gould (1837–1906).[19] Together, they were the parents of:[20]

  • Frederick Vail Brokaw (1866–1891), a student at Princeton who drowned while trying save a girl.[15][21][22]
  • Grace Elvira Brokaw (1867–1868), who died young.
  • Isaac Irving Brokaw (1871–1939),[23][3] a noted skater who was married to Lucile Nave (d. 1937).[24]
  • Elvira Brokaw (1872–1958),[25] who married Carl Aage Vilhelm Frederick von Fischer-Hansen (1868–1950), a Danish nobleman, in 1896.[26][27] They divorced in 1911,[28] and in 1914, she married William McNair (1871-1947), also an attorney.[29]
  • Howard Crosby Brokaw (1875–1960),[30] who married Edna Goadby Loew (1882–1960) in 1903.[31] They had three daughters.[7]
  • Ernest Brokaw (1879–1881), who also died young.
  • George Tuttle Brokaw (1879–1935),[32] who married Clare Boothe (1903–1987), in 1923. They divorced in 1929.[33] In 1931, he married Frances Ford Seymour (1908–1950).[34]

He died in Elberon, New Jersey on September 29, 1913.[1][35] The Brokaw estate, which was left in a Trust,[35] was valued at $12,318,569 (about $320 million in 2022 dollars) after his death.[36] The entire estate was left to his wife and living children.[37]

Descendants

Through his son Irving, he was the grandfather of Lucile Brokaw, who married James Duane Pell Bishop, a grandson of Heber R. Bishop, in 1936, Barbara Lucile Brokaw, who married Leonard Jarvis Cushing, and Louise Elvira "Mimi" Brokaw, who married painter Richard Derby Tucker.[24]

Through his daughter Elvira, he was the grandfather of Elvira McNair (1900–1965), who was married to Reginald Lovett Hutchinson (1895–1954) in 1922.[38] They divorced in 1925,[38] and she married William Samuel Fairchild (1892-1940), son of Samuel W. Fairchild.[39][40] After Fairchild's death in 1940, she married Vicomte Jacques de Sibour (1896–1979), the nephew of Jules Henri de Sibour, in 1949.[41] De Sibour had previously been married to Violette Selfridge, daughter of Harry Gordon Selfridge, with whom he had a son, Jacques de Sibour, Jr. (1928–2005) before their divorce in 1949.[42]

Through his son George and daughter-in-law Clare Boothe Luce, he was the grandfather of Ann Clare Brokaw (1924–1944), who was killed in an automobile accident while a senior at Stanford University,[43] and Frances de Villers "Pan" Brokaw (1931–2008), a half-sister of Jane and Peter Fonda, who later married Francesco Corrias, and became a painter.[44][45]

Notes
  1. "Isaac V. Brokaw Dead – Head of Brokaw Brothers Was Pioneer New York Merchant". The New York Times. September 30, 1913. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Reynolds, Cuyler; 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. pp. 463–470. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  3. "['93]". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 39 (24): 558. 1938. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  4. "Death of Wilson G. Hunt; Once One of the Foremost of New-York Merchants". The New York Times. December 8, 1892. p. 10. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. The Rich men of the world, and how they gained their wealth: Wilson G. Hunt
  6. "Brokaw Brothers". The New York Times. December 22, 1877. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  7. "Howard Brokaw, 85, Led Clothing Firm". The New York Times. March 19, 1960. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  8. "The Business World | Brokaws Elect Officers". The New York Times. January 30, 1914. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  9. Miller, Tom (December 5, 2011). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost Isaac Vail Brokaw Mansion -- No. 1 East 79th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  10. Ennis, Thomas W. (September 17, 1964). "Landmark Mansion on 79th St. to Be Razed". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  11. "Mandel Syndicate to Get Brokaw House on 5th Ave". The New York Times. January 27, 1940. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  12. Whitehouse, Franklin (January 31, 1968). "News of Realty – Deal on 5th Ave – 3 Town Houses Bought by a High-Rise Builder". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  13. "G.T. Brokaw Wins Suit to Raze Home – Referee Koenig Recommends Tearing Down of 5th Av. Family Mansion for Apartments – Favors $800,000 Mortgage – Petitioner Hails Decision as a Victory for Him and His Sister – Brothers Fought Action". The New York Times. May 9, 1926. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  14. "Brokaw Loses Suit to Raze Mansion – Fifth Avenue Landmark Cannot Be Replaced by Apartment House – Heavy Expense for Home – Court Rules, However, That Law Forbids Life Tenant to Alter the Property". The New York Times. November 3, 1929. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  15. "Fredrick Brokaw Drowned – Princeton's Catcher Lost His Life Trying to Save a Girl". The New York Times. June 25, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  16. "In Memory of Brave Brokaw – His Father Gives $42,000 for a Building at Princeton". The New York Times. May 11, 1892. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  17. "Brokaw Memorial in Use – The Fine Athletic Building at Princeton Thrown Open to Students". The New York Times. February 14, 1896. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  18. "Isaac V. Brokaw's Gift – A Mission House for the Madison Avenue Reformed Church". The New York Times. March 16, 1893. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  19. 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. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  20. Leonard, John William; Mohr, William Frederick; Knox, Herman Warren; Holmes, Frank R.; Downs, Winfield Scott (1918). Who's Who in New York (City and State). Who's Who Publications, Incorporated. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  21. "Young Brokaw's Body Found – The Parents Prostrated by the Son's Tragic Death". The New York Times. June 26, 1891. p. 5. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Frederick Brokaw Buried". The New York Times. June 30, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Irving Brokaw, 69, Noted Skater, Dies – National Champion in Figure Skating in 1908, Introduced 'International' Style Here – He Was Also An Artist – Had a Painting in Luxembourg Gallery – Member of Old New York Family". The New York Times. March 20, 1939. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  24. "Mrs. Irving Brokaw Dies at Home Here – Wife of Financier, a Former Amateur Ice Skating Champion, Succumbs After Long Illness". The New York Times. September 12, 1937. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  25. "Obituary – McNair". The New York Times. October 11, 1958. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  26. "A Day's Weddings – Fischer-Hansen–Brokaw". The New York Times. June 11, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. "Extortion Charge for Fischer-Hansen – Lawyer Indicted on Complaint of Philadelphian Who Says He Gave Him $15,000 – Letters Figure in Case – Affidavit Avers That the Accused Demanded $25,000 for Suppressing Suit Against His Accuser – Amen Corner in Storage – Ex-Supt. Walker Indicted". The New York Times. April 2, 1908. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. "Wife to Rid Herself of Fischer-Hansen – He Repudiated an Agreement to Separate and Demanded More Money – Now She Will Sue Him – Mr. Brokaw Informed Mr. Jerome, Who Rearrested Fischer-Hansen to Forestall His Flight". The New York Times. February 5, 1909. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. "William McNair". The New York Times. July 3, 1947. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  30. "Howard Crosby Brokaw '97". Princeton Alumni Weekly. April 22, 1960. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  31. "Wedding of a Day – Brokaw-Loew". The New York Times. November 12, 1903. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. "George T. Brokaw, Lawyer, Dies at 55. Victim of Heart Attack After Illness of a Year. Retired Member of Firm Here". The New York Times. May 30, 1935. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  33. "Wife of G.T. Brokaw Seeks Reno Divorce – In Visit to San Francisco She Calls Second Recent Court Action of Family 'Unfortunate'". The New York Times. March 29, 1929. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  34. Morris 1997, pp. 130–31, 146–148. After his death in 1935, now Frances Brokaw, she remarried to actor Henry Fonda, and became the mother of Jane and Peter Fonda.
  35. "Brokaw Heirs Get Estate In Trust – Realty and Stock to Wife and Sons and Daughter, to Go to Their Children". The New York Times. October 18, 1913. p. 12. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. "Isaac Brokaw Left $12,318,569 Estate – Clothing Merchant's Widow and Children Are His Sole Heirs – Valuable Realty Holdings – Property Occupied by Sherry Appraised at $2,900,000 -- 1,250 Standard Oil Shares". The New York Times. January 14, 1916. Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. "Brokaw Trust Fund Paid Heir $1,695,245 – Earnings on $1,859,959 Bequest Since 1913 Filed -- Writ in Browning Action Sought". The New York Times. April 11, 1936. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  38. Times, Special To The New York (June 16, 1925). "Divorces R.L. Hutchinson – Former Miss Vera Brokaw Gets Decree From Yale Football Star". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  39. Times, Special To The New York (July 11, 1940). "William S. Fairchild – Ex-Member of New York Stock Exchange Retired in 1935". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  40. "Elvira Fairchild Becomes a Bride – Wears Ivory-Colored Satin at Wedding in Mother's Home to Jesse Spalding 3d". The New York Times. December 28, 1940. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  41. "Nuptials Are Held for Mrs. Fairchild – Former Elvira McNair Is Wed to Jacques Jean 'de Sibour, Executive of Airline". The New York Times. February 11, 1949. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  42. Miles, Jeremy (February 20, 2014). "Multi millionaire retailer Mr Selfridge's secret Dorset life". Dorset Magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  43. "Ann Brokaw Dies in Auto Collision". The New York Times. January 12, 1944. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  44. Craven, Jo (October 12, 2008). "Pilar Corrias: a new gallery for a new era". Telegraph. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  45. Maslin, Janet (August 18, 2011). "'Jane Fonda,' by Patricia Bosworth, and Fonda's 'Prime Time'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.

References
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