Theodore Havemeyer
Theodore Augustus Havemeyer (May 17, 1839 – April 26, 1897) was an American businessman who was the first president of the U.S. Golf Association and co-founder of the Newport Country Club, host to both the first U.S. Amateur and the first U.S. Open in 1895.[1]
Theodore Havemeyer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Theodore Augustus Havemeyer May 17, 1839 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1897 (aged 57) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Mr. Betts' School |
| Spouse |
Emily de Loosey (m. 1862) |
| Children | 9 |
| Parent(s) | Frederick Christian Havemeyer Jr. Sarah Louise Henderson |
| Relatives | See Havemeyer family |
Early life
Havemeyer was born in New York City on May 17, 1839. He was the eldest son of three children born to Frederick Christian Havemeyer Jr. (1807-1891), and Sarah Louise (née Henderson) Havemeyer (1812-1851). His mother died in 1851 and he was then raised with the help of his grandmothers, Mary Osborne Henderson and Catharine Billiger Havemeyer, and his oldest sister, Mary Havemeyer. The family lived in a house at 193 West 14th Street,[2] in what was then the northern frontier of New York City. Theodore studied at Mr. Betts' School (Betts Academy) in Stamford, Connecticut.[3]
Theodore's grandfather, a German immigrant, came to the United States in 1802 and started a sugar refining company with his brother and Theodore's father started his own firm, Havemeyer & Elder.[4]
Career
Theodore became an apprentice in his father's firm and later was made a partner working with his brother Henry Osborne Havemeyer. After traveling to Germany and England, in search of new advances in the sugar refining trade, Theodore constructed the Domino Sugar Refinery, "one of the most modern sugar refineries in the world."[5]
Theodore Havemeyer was also the Austro-Hungarian Consul-General in New York City for twenty-five years, up until 1895. He became president of the New York Golf Club and the first president United States Golf Association, as well.[6][7] Havemeyer co-founded the Newport Country Club, U.S. Amateur Championship and U.S. Open. The U.S. Amateur trophy, the Havemeyer Cup, is currently named in his honor.[5]
His portrait was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury, one is now in the New York State Museum at Albany; Müller-Ury also painted in 1891 a huge portrait of his wife Emilie de Loosey Havemeyer (Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island (at Rosecliff).
Estates
The family owned many estates including, a town house in New York City at 244 Madison Avenue (on the southwest corner of 38th Street), a "cottage" on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, and 500 acres in Mahwah, New Jersey, called Mountain Side Farm.[5] 300 acres of the Mahwah estate is currently the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey. The house that Havemeyer and his family lived in is now the home to the college's President and the house that Havemeyer had built for his daughter Lillie, as part of the estate, currently stands as the Administration Building for the college.[8]
Personal life
In 1862, Havemeyer married Emily de Loosey (1840–1914), daughter of Chevalier Charles F. de Loosey, the Austrian Consul General to New York.[9] Together, they were the parents of nine children, five daughters and four sons, including:
- Nathalie Ida Blanche Havemeyer (1864–1900), known as "Lillie", who married John Mayer. She "died from the effects of a pistol shot accidentally fired."[10]
- Emily Blanche Havemeyer (b. 1865), who married Edward Clarkson Potter, a son of architect Edward Tuckerman Potter.[11]
- Charles Frederick Havemeyer (1867–1898), who married Camilla Woodward Moss and became well known in New York Society.[12]
- Theodore Augustus Havemeyer Jr. (b. 1868)[13]
- Blanche Maximillian Havemeyer (1871–1958), who married William Butler Duncan, nephew and adopted son of W. Butler Duncan.[14]
- Marie Ida Pauline Havemeyer (1872–1925), who married Perry Tiffany (1866–1928) and H. F. Godfrey
- Henry Osborne Havemeyer II (1876–1965), who became a major financier of Stephen Birch and the future Kennecott Copper Company.[15] He married Charlotte Whiting (1880–1962) in 1900.[16]
- Theodora Havemeyer (1878–1945), who married Admiral Cameron Winslow.[17]
- Frederick Christian Havemeyer (b. 1879), who married Lillie Harriman (b. 1870), daughter of Oliver H. Harriman.[18][19]
Havemeyer died intestate at his home, 244 Madison Avenue in New York City, on April 26, 1897. His funeral service was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York and he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.[20][21] He left an estate valued at $4 million.[22]
References
- Golf and the American country club by Richard J. Moss (University of Illinois Press, 2001)
- "Trow's New York City Directory, 1854/1855". Retrieved 24 September 2016. Note: 14th Street was renumbered in 1869.
- Havemeyer (2010), p. 5-7, 17.
- "DEATH OF T. A. HAVEMEYER; Vice President of the American Sugar Refining Company and a Man of Large Affairs. WAS BAPTIZED WHEN DYING Called for a Priest and Was Received into the Catholic Church -- To be Buried from the Cathedral -His Notable Career" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 April 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- Henry Bischoff and Mitchell Kahn, From Pioneer Settlement to Suburb, A History of Mahwah, New Jersey, 1700-1976, (South Brunswick and New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1979), p. 138.
- "T.A. HAVEMEYER ON GOLF; RAPID GROWTH OF THE GAME IN THIS COUNTRY. Danger in Too Many Clubs in One Locality -- Against Expensive Clubhouses to the Detriment of the Sport" (PDF). The New York Times. 10 January 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "HE SUCCEEDS MR. HAVEMEYER.; Mr. Curtis Now President of the Golf Association" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 June 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- Henry Bischoff and Mitchell Kahn, From Pioneer Settlement to Suburb, A History of Mahwah, New Jersey, 1700-1976, (South Brunswick and New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1979), p. 142.
- Times, Special To The New York (4 May 1914). "MRS. T. A. HAVEMEYER DEAD.; End Comes in Switzerland on Eve of Sailing for This Country" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "PISTOL SHOT WOUND KILLS MRS. MAYER; T.A. Havemeyer's Oldest Daughter Dies at Mahwah. ACCIDENT, THE FAMILY SAYS Commander Winslow, a Brother-in-Law, Denies Reports of Trouble in Mayer Household" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 July 1900. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- "EDWARD C. POTTER, FIGURE IN RACING,88; One-Time Steward of Jockey Club, Ex-Stockbroker, Dies-- Noted as a Polo Player" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 March 1951. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- 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 26 March 2017.
- "T. A. HAVEMEYER, 2D, WEDS.; Former Fiance of Miss Bispham Marries Miss MacLean in Vancouver" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 August 1915. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "W. Butler Duncan Dead in 71st Year" (PDF). The New York Times. March 31, 1933. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- Charles Caldwell Hawley (2014). A Kennecott Story. The University of Utah Press. p. 33.
- "Guide to the Henry O. Havemeyer Collection of Portrait Prints of American Statesmen [1790]-[1955], (Bulk [1830]-[1900]) PR 25". dlib.nyu.edu. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (10 June 1945). "MRS. WINSLOW DIES; WIDOW OF ADMIRAL; Former Theodora Havemeyer of Prominent Family Here Succumbs in Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- The World Almanac and Book of Facts. Press Publishing Company (The New York World). 1911. p. 528. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- Times, Wireless To The New York (25 June 1925). "TWO OF THE HARRIMANS SEEK PARIS DIVORCES; Mrs. Lillie Harriman Havemeyer and Mrs. Ethel Harriman Russell File Petitions" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- "FUNERAL OF MR. HAVEMEYER; Impressive Services in St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Presence of a Great Throng. THE ARCHBISHOP OFFICIATED Father Sylvester Malone Celebrated the Solemn Requiem Mass for His Friend -- Interment Was in Greenwood Cemetery -- Refineries Closed in Williamsburg" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 April 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "IN MEMORY OF MR. HAVEMEYER.; Consecration of Vestments Presented to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 October 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "ESTATE OF T.A. HAVEMEYER; Mr. Parsons Thinks It Will Not Be "Less Than Might Have Been Expected." NO WILL HAS BEEN FOUND The Heirs Will Proceed on the Idea that Mr. Havemeyer Died Intestate --A Plan Had Been Drawn Up but Never Executed" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 May 1897. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
Bibliography
- Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney; Tinterow, Gary; Stein, Susan Alyson; Wold, Gretchen; Meech, Julia (1993). Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-300-08617-1.
- Havemeyer, Harry W. (1989). Merchants of Williamsburgh. New York: privately printed.
- Havemeyer, Harry W. (2010). Henry Osborne Havemeyer: "The Most Independent Mind". New York: Privately Printed. ISBN 978-1-935202-73-8.
- Havemeyer II, Henry O. (1944). Biographical Record of the Havemeyer Family. New York: privately printed.
- Havemeyer, Louisine W. (1993) [1961]. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. New York: Ursus Press. ISBN 1-883145-00-7.