George Merritt (businessman)

George Merritt (August 14, 1807 – October 5, 1873) was a businessman from New York. He owned the mansion Lyndhurst on the Hudson River, which was sold to financier Jay Gould by Merritt's widow, Julia Merritt, after Merritt's death in 1873.

Early life

Merritt was born on August 14, 1807, in White Creek in Washington County, New York. He was a son of Benjamin Merritt and Thankful (née Scott) Merritt.^[1] Beginning at the age of five, was educated at the Friends Boarding School at Nine Partners.^[2]

Career

Merritt moved to New York City in 1822 and was a dry goods merchant until 1853, residing six years in Georgia. He was Owner and President of the New England Car Spring Co. from 1853 to 1868.^[2]

Merritt held a patent for a railroad car spring.^[3]

Personal life

 

Map of Lyndehurst, 1873

On November 5, 1845, Merritt was married to Julia Douglas (1823–1904), a daughter of Ann (née Sutherland) Douglas (daughter of Solomon Sutherland) and Alanson Douglas,^[a] in Troy, New York. She was a direct descendant of The Reverend Roger Williams, who founded the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.^[4] Together, they were the parents of six children, four of whom lived to adulthood.^[5]

• Douglas Merritt (1847–1927), who married Elizabeth Cleveland Coxe, a daughter of the Rt. Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of Western New York, in 1876.^[6]
• Julia Douglas Merritt (1859–1892), who married Dr. Benjamin Franklin Dawson in 1884.^[5]
• Annie Douglas (1849–1849), who died young.^[5]
• Mary Merritt (1850–1911), who married John Peter Haines, president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in 1873.^[7]
• Cornelia Merritt (1853–1853), who died young.^[5]
• George William Merritt (1856–1907), who was married three times,^[b] and was separated from his third wife, Alma Desajo, when he took his own life at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City.^[11]

Merritt died of Bright's disease on October 5, 1873, at his house in Irvington, New York.^[12] After a funeral at the Irvington Parish Church, he and was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.^[2]

Lyndhurst

 

Lyndhurst

Further information: Lyndhurst (house)

In 1864 Merritt bought Knoll, the former country estate of William S. Paulding, Jr. and hired architect Alexander Jackson Davis to expand the estate, doubling the house's size in the gothic revival style between 1864 and 1865, renaming it "Lyndenhurst" for the estate's linden trees.^[13] His new north wing added an imposing four-story tower, new porte-cochere (the old one was reworked as a glass walled vestibule) and a new dining room, two bedrooms, and servants quarters. After his death, his widow, Julia sold the Irvington house to financier Jay Gould.^[14]

References

Notes

1. A prominent attorney and cashier of the Chemical Bank in New York City, President Martin Van Buren invited Alanson Douglas to be United States Secretary of the Treasury, but he declined.^[4]
2. One of George William Merritt's marriages was in 1881 to Augusta Temple Schack (1853–1920),^[8] the youngest daughter of Danish broker Otto Wilhelm Christian Schack.^[9][10]

Sources

1. Virkus, Frederick Adams; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1925). The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: First Families of America. A.N. Marquis. p. 391. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
2. Meredith, Mark (June 15, 2020). "George T. Merritt (1807-1873)". househistree.com. HouseHistree. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
3. . Archived from the original on 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
4. MacKenzie, George Norbury (1917). Colonial Families of the United States of America: In which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families who Settled in the American Colonies from the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. Grafton Press. p. 191. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
5. Mackenzie, George Norbury (1966). Colonial Families of the United States of America: In which is Given the History, Genealogy, and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families who Settled in the American Colonies from the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 324. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
6. Cox, Henry Miller (1912). The Cox Family in America: A History and Genealogy of the Older Branches of the Family from the Appearance of Its First Representative in this Country in 1610. Henry Miller Cox. p. 94. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
7. Heston, Alfred Miller (1924). South Jersey: A History, 1664-1924. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
8. "Obituary -- DUTTON". The New York Times. 27 February 1920. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
9. "TWO FASHIONABLE WEDDINGS.; MERRITT-SCHACK AND CAMPBELL-PARKER-- THE GUESTS AND THE DRESSES". The New York Times. 27 October 1881. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
10. "Mrs. George William Merritt (ca. 1856-1920)". emuseum.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
11. "Obituary for George I William Merritt". The Sun. 17 January 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
12. "DIED". The New York Times. 8 October 1873. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
13. Salvesen, Magda (12 September 2011). Exploring Gardens & Green Spaces: From Connecticut to the Delaware Valley. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-393-70626-0. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
14. "History". lyndhurst.org. Lyndhurst Mansion. Retrieved 14 April 2022.