Pierre Lorillard II

Pierre Abraham Lorillard II or Peter Abraham Lorillard II (September 7, 1764 – May 23, 1843), also known as Peter Lorillard, Jr., was an American tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, banker, businessman, and real estate tycoon.[1]

Pierre Lorillard II
Born
Pierre Abraham Lorillard II

(1764-09-07)September 7, 1764
New York City, US
DiedMay 23, 1843(1843-05-23) (aged 78)
New York City
Resting placeNew York Marble Cemetery
Known forTobacco manufacturer
SpouseMaria Dorothea Schultz
ChildrenMaria Dorothea Lorillard
Catherine Lorillard
Pierre Lorillard III
Dorothea Anne Lorillard
Eleanor Eliza Lorillard
RelativesPierre Lorillard IV (grandson)

Early life
1789 advertisement for Peter and George Lorillard's Tobacco & Snuff of the best quality & flavor
Lorillard residence in Tuxedo Park, 1934

Lorillard was born on September 7, 1764, in Manhattan, New York City.

Career

Lorillard's father, also known as 'Pierre Lorillard I', was the founder of the Lorillard Tobacco Company.[2] Lorillard's father made the first American tobacco fortune by developing a tobacco firm that he started in 1760.[2] Originally the business was a snuff-grinding factory located in a rented house in lower Manhattan. It was called Lorillard's Snuff and Tobacco company and sometimes the name was abbreviated as J. Lorillard.[2] Later the firm moved to a better location on the Bronx River. Lorillard II took over and continued to manage and operate the family business after his father's death in 1776.

Social clubs

Lorillard II was a member of several social clubs including the Meadow Brook Hunt Country Club (a fox hunting club) and the Narragansett Gun Club.[3] He often is associated with Tuxedo Park since between 1802 and 1812 he purchased the first tracts of land upon which it later would be developed.[4] The village and the surrounding area were developed in 1886 by his grandson Pierre Lorillard IV as a resort for the socially prominent.

Personal life

In 1788, Lorillard married Maria Dorothea Schultz. They lived at 521 Broadway in Manhattan. Together, they had five children:

  • Maria Dorothea Lorillard (1790–1848), who married Thomas Alexander Ronalds, a New York merchant.[5]
  • Catherine Lorillard (1794–1882), who married her younger sister's widower, William Augustus Spencer.[6][7]
  • Pierre Lorillard III (1796–1867), who married Catherine Anne Griswold, whose family owned "the great New York mercantile house of N. L. & G. Griswold, known to their rivals as "No Loss and Great Gain Griswold," importers of rum, sugar, and tea."[8]
  • Dorothea Anne Lorillard (1798–1866), who married John David Wolfe, a real estate developer.[9]
  • Eleanora Eliza Lorillard (1801–1843), who was also married to William Augustus Spencer, son of U.S. Representative Ambrose Spencer and brother of John Canfield Spencer, the United States Secretary of War and Treasury, in 1823.[10]

Death and legacy

On May 23rd, 1843 Lorillard died at the age of 78, outliving his brothers George and Jacob.[11] He was buried at the New York Marble Cemetery. A newspaper reporter writing his obituary tried to describe an extremely wealthy American and used the relatively new word, "millionaire".[12][13][14]

While the word "millionaire" had been in use in the United Kingdom since at least 1816,[15] apparently it was used for the first time in the United States in 1843 when it was used to describe Lorillard, although he was not the first American to own one million dollars' worth of property.[16][17] While he was one of the wealthiest men in America, he was not the richest at the time, that being John Jacob Astor.[18] Lorillard just happened to have been the first to be called a millionaire in newspapers.[19][20][21][22] Cleveland Amory incorrectly reports that it was in Lorillard's 1843 obituary that the first use of the word "millionaire" appeared in print anywhere.[23][24]

Philip Hone, one-time mayor of New York, wrote about Lorillard in his famous diary,

He was a tobacconist, and his memory will be preserved in the annals of New York by the celebrity of "Lorillard's Snuff and Tobacco." He led people by the nose for the best part of the century, and made his enormous fortune by giving them that to chew which they could not swallow.[22]

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter Maria, he was the grandfather of Mary, Margaret and Dorothea Ann Ronalds, none of whom married; Catherine Ronalds (1820–1885), who married Assistant Secretary of State John Addison Thomas (1811–1858), Eleanora Lorillard Ronalds (1825–1879), who married U.S. Representative Frederick A. Conkling (1816–1891) (brother of U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling), Julia Ronalds, who died young, Thomas Alexander Ronalds (d. 1872), who married Adeline Freeman (b. 1824) (daughter of Dr. Freeman), Peter Lorillard Ronalds (1826–1905), who married Mary Frances Carter (1839–1916),[25] and George Lorillard Ronalds (1833–1875), who married Pauline Antoinette Witthaus,[5] daughter of R.A. Witthaus, Esq. in 1863.[26]

Through his daughter Dorothea, he was the grandfather of Mary Lorillard Wolfe (1823–1847), who was married to William Bayard Hoffman (d. 1880)[27] before her early death, David Lorillard Wolfe (1825–1829), who died young, and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (1828–1887), the philanthropist and art collector who gave large amounts of money to institutions such as Grace Episcopal Church and Union College, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[9]

Through his daughter Eleonora, he was the grandfather of Lorillard Spencer (1827–1888),[7] who was married to Sarah Johnson Griswold (1827–1905). They were the parents of Eleanor Spencer (b. 1851), who married Don Virginius Cenci, 6th Prince of Vicovaro (b. 1840),[28] in 1870,[29] and Lorillard Spencer (1860–1912), who was married to Caroline Berryman Spencer (1861–1948),[30] and were the parents of Lorillard Spencer (1883–1939), who was president of Atlantic Aircraft and was married to Katherine Emmons Force (1891–1956), both of whom were prominent in Newport, Rhode Island, society.[31][32]

References
Notes
  1. Myers, p. 196, Thus, when Pierre Lorillard, a New York snuff maker, banker, and landholder, died in 1843, his fortune of $1,000,000 or so, was considered so unusual that the word "millionaire", newly-coined, was initialized in the rounds of the press.
  2. "New York City Department of Parks & Recreation". Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  3. Whitney, p. 318
  4. Dictionary of American Biography, American Council of Learned Societies 1933, p. 412
  5. Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families. Higginson Book Company. 1899. p. 811. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  6. Opinion of Hon. Abner C. Thomas, Surrogate. Supreme Court. p. 497. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  7. Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John; Dick, Charles; Homans, James Edward (1915). The Cyclopædia of American Biography. Press Association Compilers. p. 1075. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  8. Hutto, Richard Jay (2005). The Jekyll Island Club Members. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 100. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  9. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York, NY: J.T. White & Company. 1900. p. 411. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  10. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Pitman, Harold Minot; Maynard, Arthur S.; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin (1951). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 159. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  11. "Reminiscences of New York by an Octogenarian (1816–1860)". Retrieved July 19, 2008.
  12. McNamara, John (1984). History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names, page 129. ISBN 9780941980166. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  13. Conley, Dalton (2003). Wealth and Poverty in America: A Reader By Dalton Conley, page 145. ISBN 9780631231806. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  14. Sobin, Dennis P. (1968). Dynamics of Community Change: The Case of Long Island's Declining "Gold Coast" By Dennis P. Sobin , page 34. ISBN 9780804680592. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  15. "Millionaire (n and adj)" (available online to subscribers but also available in print). Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved July 20, 2008. 1816 BYRON Let. 23 June (1976) V. 80 He is still worth at least 50-000 pds{em}being what is called here [sc. Evian] a 'Millionaire' that is in Francs & such Lilliputian coinage. 1826 B. DISRAELI Vivian Grey I. ix, Were I the son of a Millionaire, or a noble, I might have all.
  16. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates: Buildings and Projects 1993–1998 By Jerry E. Patterson, page 119. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  17. Kent, Frank Richardson (1925). The Story of Alexander Brown & Sons: Issued on the One Hundred and Twenty, page 25. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  18. "A Classification of American Wealth". Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  19. Shenkman, Richard; Reiger, Kurt (August 5, 2003). One-night Stands with American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-known Incidents. ISBN 9780060538200. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  20. Hansen, Richard K. (2005). The American Wind Band: A Cultural History By Richard K. Hanksen, page 218. ISBN 9781579994679. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  21. Thomas, Dana Lee (1967). The Plungers and the Peacocks By Dana Lee Thomas, page 71. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  22. Hutto, Richard Jay (2006). Their Gilded Cage: The Jekyll Island Club Members By Richard Jay Hutto, page 100. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  23. Wein, p. 134 According to Cleveland Amory, it was within Pieere Lorillard's newspaper obituary that the word "millionaire" had first appeared in print.
  24. Wecter, p. 76 Peter Lorillard, the snuff and cigar-maker, died in 1843 and the newspapers coined the word "millionaire" to denote such affluence.
  25. "Mrs. Pierre Lorillard Ronalds (1839–1916)". nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  26. "Married. RONALDS – WITTHAUS". The New York Times. April 17, 1863. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  27. "Dorothea Wolfe Hoffman (1866–1907)". nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  28. Depew, Chauncey M. (2013). Titled Americans, 1890: A list of American ladies who have married foreigners of rank. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 228. ISBN 9781783660056. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  29. Allen, Cameron (2013). The History of the American Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Paris (1815–1980). iUniverse. p. 512. ISBN 9781475937824. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  30. "Lorillard Spencer Is Dead. Prominent in Society and Clubs Here and in Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. March 15, 1912. Retrieved August 14, 2017. Lorillard Spencer, prominent in New York society, died yesterday from Bright's disease at his home, 7 East Eighty-sixth Street. He had been ill since Feb. 28. ...
  31. "Mrs. Lorillard Spencer. Widow of New York Banker, a Resident of Newport, Dies". The New York Times. September 9, 1956. Retrieved August 14, 2017. Mrs. Katherine Force Spencer of Chasteullux, Newport, died at her home this morning of a heart attack. She was 63 years old....
  32. "Miss Katherine Force To Wed Major Spencer. Their Marriage to Take Place Tomorrow at the Home of Her Sister, Mrs. William K. Dick". The New York Times. December 5, 1922. Retrieved August 14, 2017. Although the engagement of Miss Katherine E. Force, daughter of Mrs. William H. Force, to Major Lorillard Spencer has never been formally announced, it has been rumored for some time, and their wedding will take place tomorrow at the home of Mrs. William K. Dick, 7 East Eighty-fourth Street. Mrs. Dick, who was formerly Mrs. John Jacob Astor, is Miss Force's sister.
Sources
  • Baltzell, Edward Digby, Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, Transaction Publishers 1989, ISBN 0-88738-789-6
  • Hall, Henry et al., The Tribune Book of Open-air Sports, The Tribune Association 1887, Original from the New York Public Library
  • Larrabee, Eric et al., Mass Leisure, Free Press 1958
  • Myers, Gustavus, History of the Great American Fortunes, C.H. Kerr & Company 1909.
  • Wecter, Dixon, The Saga of American Society: A Record of Social Aspiration, 1607–1937, C. Scribner's Sons 1937, Original from the University of Michigan
  • Wein, George et al.,Myself Among Others: A Life in Music, Da Capo Press 2004, ISBN 0-306-81352-1
  • Whitney, Caspar et al., Outing; Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, W. B. Holland 1902, Original from the University of Michigan
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