goelet family fortune goelet family fortune

He was a lover of fancy fowls and of animals. He was the son of Elbert Samuel Kip (1799-1876) and Elizabeth ( ne Goelet) Kip (1808-1882). Likewise the third generation. Between them, he and his brother Ogden possessed a fortune of at least $150,000,000. In exchange, Longworth received thirty-three acres of what was then considered unpromising land in the town.6 From time to time he bought more land with the money made in law ; this land lay on what were then the outskirts of the place. He was a lover of fancy fowls and of animals. It was estimated that the 266 acres of land, constituting what was owned by individuals and private corporations in one section alone the South Side, were worth $319,000,000. What set of men do we find now in control of this railroad, doing with it as they please ? Then after the beggar left, Longworth sent a boy to the nearest shoe store, with instructions to get a pair of shoes, but in no circumstances to pay more than a dollar and a half. They had 4-children and their grandchildren included Elbridge T. Gerry, Ogden and Robert Goelet. Between them, he and his brother Ogden possessed a fortune of at least $150,000,000. Ogden Goelet was an American heir, businessman and yachtsman from New York City during the Gilded Age. 9 In those parts of this work relating to great fortunes from railroads and from industries, this phase of commercial life is specifically dealt with. The fortunes of the brothers descended to Roberts two sons, Robert, born in 1841, and Ogden, born in 1846. degree in 1902 and an M.A. By this manipulation, private individuals not only got this immensely valuable railroad for practically nothing, but they received, or rather the laws (which they caused to be made) awarded them, a present of nearly four millions for their dexterity in plundering the railroad from the people. After proper periods of mourning, their widows May and Harriet resumed their regal lifestyles with open speculation as to the possibility of one or the other remarrying. The stock of the Chemical Bank, quoted at a fabulous sum, so to speak, is still held by a small, compact group in which the Goelets are conspicuous. While the Astors, the Goelets, the Rhinelanders and others, or rather the entire number of inhabitants, were transmuting their land into vast and increasing wealth expressed in terms of hundreds of millions in money, Nicholas Longworth was aggrandizing himself likewise in Cincinnati. Here he cultivated the Catawba grape and produced about 150,000 bottles a year. They reduced miserliness to a supreme art. But Longworth somehow contrived to get the accused off with acquittal. Long after Longworth had become a multimillionaire he took a savage, perhaps a malicious, delight in doing things which shocked all current conceptions of how a millionaire should act. The variety of Fields possessions and his numerous forms of ownership were such that we shall have pertinent occasion to deal more relevantly with his career in subsequent parts of this work. It is entirely needless to iterate the narrative of how the city officials corruptly gave over to these men land and water grants before that time municipally owned grants now having a present incalculable value.1. His grandfather, Jacobus Goelet, was, as a boy and young man, brought up by Frederick Phillips, with whose career as a . There were certain other conventional respects in which he was woefully deficient, and he had certain singularities which severely taxed the comprehension of routine minds. Another large tract of New York City real estate came into their possession through the marriage of William C. Rhinelander, of the third generation, to But once any man or woman passed over the line of respectability into the besmeared realm of sheer disrepute, and that person would find Longworth not only accessible but genuinely sympathetic. The brothers admired Kendall's work-within four years he would design . In those frontier days, a horse represented one of the most valuable forms of property ; and, as under a system wherein human life was inconsequential compared to the preservation of property, the penalty for stealing a horse was usually death. The stock of the Chemical Bank, quoted at a fabulous sum, so to speak, is still held by a small, compact group in which the Goelets are conspicuous. Far from it. The engagement was later denied in October,[23] and Mary married the sculptor and polo player Charles Cary Rumsey in 1910.[24]. Profits from trade went toward buying more land, and in providing part of corrupt funds with which the Legislature of New York was bribed into granting banking charters, exemptions and other special laws. The Astors are directors in a large array of corporations, and likewise virtually all of the other big landlords. As time passes a gradual transformation takes place. As immigration swarmed West and Cincinnati grew, his land consequently took on enhanced value. 5 See Part III, Great Fortunes From Railroads.. The basic structure of this was New York City land, but a considerable part was in railroad stocks and bonds, and miscellaneous aggregations of other securities to the purchase of which the surplus revenue had gone. He was a member of socially prominent New York family. He was dry and caustic in his remarks, says Houghton, and very rarely spared the object of his satire. He was dry and caustic in his remarks, says Houghton, and very rarely spared the object of his satire. [16] Among his other New York holdings were the southeast corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, 14 Sutton Place South, 1400 Broadway, 53 Broadway, and the building on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 37th Street (which he bought in 1909). Chancing in upon him one could see him intently pouring over a list of his properties. And progressively their rentals from this land increased. When fraud was necessary they, like the bulk of their class, unhesitatingly used it. Goelet family 0-9 608 Fifth Avenue 900 Broadway C Clinton Roosevelt Clos Du Val Winery Peter T. Curtenius G Elbridge Thomas Gerry Peter G. Gerry Robert L. Gerry Jr. Robert Livingston Gerry Sr. Thomas Russell Gerry Glenmere mansion Alexandra Creel Goelet Mary Goelet Mary Wilson Goelet Ogden Goelet Peter Goelet Robert Goelet Robert Goelet Sr. Goelet family. In the course of this work it has already been shown in specific detail how Peter Goelet in conjunction with John Jacob Astor, the Rhinelander brothers, the Schermerhorns, the Lorillards and other founders of multimillionaire dynasties, fraudulently secured great tracts of land, during the early and middle parts of the last century, in either what was then, or what is now, in the heart of New York City. Robert and Ogden jointly controlled the family fortune of tens of millions of dollars and, beginning in the early 1880's, embarked on an ambitious construction campaign that included the 1883 . It was established that Government officials were in collusion with the contractors. [1] Francois Goelet, a widower with a ten-year-old son, Jacobus, arrived in New York in 1676. In those frontier days, a horse represented one of the most valuable forms of property ; and, as under a system wherein human life was inconsequential compared to the preservation of property, the penalty for stealing a horse was usually death. The great impetus to the sudden increase of their fortune came in the period 1850-1870, through a tract of land which they owned in what had formerly been the outskirts of the city. In the course of this work it has already been shown in specific detail how Peter Goelet in conjunction with John Jacob Astor, the Rhinelander brothers, the Schermerhorns, the Lorillards and other founders of multimillionaire dynasties, fraudulently secured great tracts of land, during the early and middle parts of the last century, in either what was then, or what is now, in the heart of New York City. Peter had two sons ; Peter P., and Robert R. Goelet. In turn these rents have incessantly gone toward buying up railroads, factories, utility plants and always more and more land. Cincinnati, with its population of 325,902,7 pays incessant tribute in the form of a vast rent roll to the scions of the man whose main occupation was to hold on to the land he had got for almost nothing. Victim Had Suffered From Somnambulism. The price they paid was $600 a lot. Then after the beggar left, Longworth sent a boy to the nearest shoe store, with instructions to get a pair of shoes, but in no circumstances to pay more than a dollar and a half. So long as Vanderbilt produced the profits, Astor and his fellow-directors did not care what means he used, however criminal in law and whatever their turpitude in morals. The Astors are directors in a large array of corporations, and likewise virtually all of the other big landlords. Formerly Broker", "WHITNEY WARREN, ARCHITECT, 78, DIES; Designer of the Grand Central Terminal and Rebuilding of Louvain Library, Belgium HAD PRACTICAL APPROACH Specialized With His Partner, C. D. Wetrnore. Their policy was much the same as that of the Astors constantly increasing their land possessions. Along These brothers had set out with an iron determination to build up the largest fortune they could, and they allowed no obstacles to hinder them. On several occasions he was found in his office at the Chemical Bank industriously absorbed in sewing his coat. Goelet, it seems, was allowed to pay in installments. a daughter of John Rutgers. That they conducted their business in the accepted methods of the day and exercised great astuteness and frugality, is true enough, but so did a host of other merchants whose descendants are even now living in poverty. 1 Some of this land and these water grants and piers were obtained by Peter Goelet during the corrupt administration of City Controller Romaine. In turn these rents have incessantly gone toward buying up railroads, factories, utility plants and always more and more land. From the frauds of this bank the Goelets reaped large profits which systematically were invested in New York City real estate. [10], Goelet, and his cousin Robert Wilson Goelet, both graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. The principal landowner in this one section, not to mention other sections of that immense city, was Marshall Field, with $11,000,000 worth of land ; the next was Leiter, who owned in that section land valued at $10,500,000.8 It appeared from this report that eighteen persons owned $65,000,000 of this $319,000,000 worth of land, and that eighty-eight persons owned $136,000,000 worth or one-half of the entire business center of Chicago. Thus, like the Astors and other rich landholders, partly by investments made in trade, and largely by fraud, the Goelets finally became not only great landlords but sharers in the centralized ownership of the countrys transportation systems and industries. In a voluminous biography giving the genealogies of the rich families of New York material which was supplied and perhaps written by the families themselves this boast occurs in the chapter devoted to the Goelets : They were also numbered among the founders of that famous New York financial institution, the Chemical Bank.2 Thus do the crimes of one generation become transformed into the glories of another ! His uncle, Ogden Goelet, was the builder of Ochre Court and his two first cousins were Robert Wilson Goelet, the original owner of Glenmere mansion,[4] and Mary Goelet, the wife of Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe. The basic structure of this was New York City land, but a considerable part was in railroad stocks and bonds, and miscellaneous aggregations of other securities to the purchase of which the surplus revenue had gone. Indeed, so rapidly did its value grow soon after he got it, that it was no longer necessary for him to practice law or in any wise crook to others. Napoleon had the same experience with French contractors, and the testimony of all wars is to the same effect. Longworth ranked next to John Jacob Astor. He died in 1879 aged seventy-nine years ; and within a few months, his brother Robert, who was as much of an eccentric and miser in his way, passed away in his seventieth year. No term of reproach was more invested with cutting contempt and cruel hatred than that of a horse thief. There he studied law and was admitted to practice. During the Civil War this firm, as did the entire commercial world, proceeded to hold up the nation for exorbitant prices in its con- But this, there is excellent reason to believe, is an absurdly low approximation. [13], Goelet served as a director of the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company for many years. He foreclosed mortgages with pitiless promptitude, and his adroit knowledge of the law, approaching if not reaching, that of an unscrupulous pettifogger, enabled him to get the upper hand in every transaction. For a Western city this was a very considerable population for the period. Of Peter Goelet, a grandson of the original Peter, many stories were current illustrating his close-fistedness. [16], He inherited vast real estate holdings in New York, sometimes known as the Goelet Realty Company, which included the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the property between 52nd and 53rd Streets on Park Avenue which the Racquet and Tennis Club leased. This estimate did not include $8,000,000 worth of land which the executors reported that he owned in New York City, nor the millions of dollars of his land possessions elsewhere. When Ogden Goelet died he left a fortune of at least $80,000,000, reckoning all of the complex forms of his property, and his brother, Robert, dying in 1899, left a fortune of about the same amount. a daughter of John Rutgers. These wielders of a fortune so great that they could not keep track of it, so fast did it grow, abandoned somewhat the rigid parsimony of the previous generations. He Inherited $60,000,000. There is good reason to believe that alongside of his one personality, that of a rapacious miser, there lived another personality, that of a philosopher. A surfeit of money brings power, but it does not carry with it a recognized position among a titled aristocracy. Certainly he was a very unique type of millionaire, much akin to Stephen Girard. Nearly a century and a half ago William and Frederick Rhinelander kept a bakeshop on William street, New York City, and during the Revolution operated a sugar factory. Profits from trade went toward buying more land, and in providing part of corrupt funds with which the Legislature of New York was bribed into granting banking charters, exemptions and other special laws. Current Status: #59 on Forbes' s 2015 list. The growth of the city kept on increasingly. He was one of the largest property owners in the city by the time of his death. When twenty-one he went to Chicago and worked in a wholesale dry goods house. [17] He also owned sixteen four-story townhouses on Park Avenue built by his father in 1871. What set of men do we find now in control of this railroad, doing with it as they please ? degree in 1903. With his wife, he built Ochre Court in Newport, Rhode Island, his son built Glenmere mansion, and his daughter, Mary Goelet, married Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe . All available accounts agree in describing him as merciless. This explanation is found partly in the fraudulent means by which, decade after decade, they secured land and water grants from venal city administrations, and in the singularly dubious arrangement by which they obtained an extremely large landed property, now having a value of tens upon tens of millions, from Trinity Church. Father of Robert Goelet. Throughout the fall and the winter of 1900-1901, various university figures dropped by French's New York studio to judge the mock-up of Alma . The landed property of the Goelet family on Manhattan Island alone is estimated at fully $200,000,000. The founder, Peter Schermerhorn, was a ship chandler during the Revolution. He is the developer of the Cond Nast Building as well as One World Trade Center, or the "Freedom Tower," the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere. It will be recalled that, as important personages in Tammany Hall, the dominant political party in New York City, the Rhinelanders used the powers of city government to get grant after grant for virtually nothing. His grandfather, Jacobus Goelet, was, as a boy and young man, brought up by Frederick Phillips, with whose career as a promoter and backer of pirates and piracies, and as a briber of royal officials under British rule, we have dealt in previous chapters. RELATIVES HERE NOT TOLD Rich Bachelor Spends Much of His Time at His Sandricourt Estate in France", "Anne-Marie Goelet, Legion of Honor Officer", "ROBERT W. GOELET WEDS MLLE. The rent-racked people of the City of New York, where rents are higher proportionately than in any other city, have sweated and labored and fiercely struggled, as have the people of other cities, only to deliver up a great share of their earnings to the lords of the soil, merely for a foothold. It is entirely needless to iterate the narrative of how the city officials corruptly gave over to these men land and water grants before that time municipally owned grants now having a present incalculable value.1. For a Western city this was a very considerable population for the period. As immigration swarmed West and Cincinnati grew, his land consequently took on enhanced value. This extortion formed one of the saddest and most sordid chapters of the Civil War (as it does of all wars,) but conventional history is silent on the subject, and one is compelled to look elsewhere for the facts of how the commercial houses imposed at high prices shoddy material and semi-putrid food upon the very army and navy that fought for their interests.9 In the words of one of Fields laudatory biographers, the firm coined money a phrase which for the volumes of significant meaning embodied in it, is an epitome of the whole profit system. Doubling the sums credited to Field and Leiter (that is to say, adding the value of the improvements to the value of the land), this brought Fields real estate in that one section to a value of $22,000,000, and Leiters to nearly the same. The same process of reaping gigantic fortunes from land went on in every large city. The rent-racked people of the City of New York, where rents are higher proportionately than in any other city, have sweated and labored and fiercely struggled, as have the people of other cities, only to deliver up a great share of their earnings to the lords of the soil, merely for a foothold. They allowed themselves a glittering effusion of luxuries which were popularly considered extravagances but which were in nowise so, inasmuch as the cost of them did not represent a tithe of merely the interest on the principal. These brothers had set out with an iron determination to build up the largest fortune they could, and they allowed no obstacles to hinder them. This estimate was made at a time when the country was slowly recovering, as the set phrase goes, from the panic of 1892-94, and when land values were not in a state of inflation or rise. As fast as millions are dissipated they are far more than replaced in these private coffers by the collective labor of the American people through the tributary media of rent, interest and profit. The careers of Field, Leiter and several other Chicago multimillionaires ran in somewhat parallel grooves. The price they paid was $600 a lot. History [ edit] The Goelets are descended from a family of Huguenots from La Rochelle in France, who escaped to Amsterdam. The drunkard, the thief, the prostitute, the veriest wrecks of humanity could always tell their stories to him and get relief. His only sister, Beatrice Goelet, who died of pneumonia at age 17 in 1902, was painted as a child by John Singer Sargent. He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia. And while on this phase, we should not overlook another salient fact which thrusts itself out for notice. His personal habits were considered repulsive by the conventional and fastidious. This estimate was confirmed to a surprising degree by the inventory of Fields executors reported to the court early in 1907. He was plain and careless in his dress, looking more a beggar than a millionaire.. Some other explanation must be found to account for the phenomenal increase of the original small fortune and its unshaken retention. These stills Longworth took and traded them off to Joel Williams, a tavern-keeper who was setting up a distillery. Field left a fortune of about $100,000,000 (as estimated by the executors) which he bequeathed principally to two grandsons, both of which heirs were in boyhood. But as to his methods in obtaining land, there exists little obscurity. He was. Peter had two sons ; Peter P., and Robert R. Goelet. Some other explanation must be found to account for the phenomenal increase of the original small fortune and its unshaken retention. The landed property of the Goelet family on Manhattan Island alone is estimated at fully $200,000,000. One was that almost consecutively they, along with other landholders, corrupted city governments to give them successive grants, and the other was their enormous surplus revenue which kept piling up. They also built ships and did a large commission business. And while on this phase, we should not overlook another salient fact which thrusts itself out for notice. Although the State of Illinois formally retains a nominal say in its management, yet it is really owned and ruled by eight men, among whom are John Jacob Astor, and Robert Walton Goelet, associated with E.H. Harriman, Cornelius Vanderbilt and four others. . It embraced a long section of Broadway a section now covered with huge hotels, business buildings, stores and theaters. It grew exponentially during the nineteenth century, swollen by Manhattan real estate, and expanded through wise investments (including the family's role in the founding of Chemical Bank). His passion for economy was carried to such an abnormal stage that he refused even to engage a tailor to mend his garments.3 He was unmarried, and generally attended to his own wants. His personal habits were considered repulsive by the conventional and fastidious. Growing up, Kip lived with his parents, his sister Margaret (who died young), and the family's servants in a house overlooking Washington Square in Manhattan. [2], In 1908, he purchased the 10,000 acres (4,000ha) Sandricourt estate, the former residence of the Marquis de Beauvoir, on the outskirts of Paris. This they could easily do for two reasons. On one occasion they bought eighty lots in the block from Fifth to Sixth avenues, Forty-second to Forty-third streets. These two brothers not only maintained the family fortune but also were one of the wealthiest landowners in New York City (second only to the Astors). Longworth had been born in Newark, N.J., in 1782, and at the age of twenty-one had migrated to Cincinnati, then a mere outpost, with a population of eight hundred sundry adventurers. How great the wealth of this family is may be judged from the fact that one of the Rhinelanders William left an estate valued at $50,000,000 at his death in December, 1907. 4 The Railways, the Trusts and the People: 104. The enormities brazenly committed during the Spanish-American War of 1898 are sufficiently remembered. The railroads now controlled by a few men, among whom the large landowners are conspicuous, were surveyed and built to a great extent by public funds, not private money. Yet now that this bank is one of the richest and most powerful institutions in the United States, and especially as the criminal nature of its origin is unknown except to the historic delver, the Goelets mention the connection of their ancestors with it as a matter of great and just pride. The death of brothers Ogden and Robert Goelet near the end of the nineteenth century left vast multi-million estates for their heirs, which in both their cases consisted of a widow, a teen-aged son, and daughter. When fraud was necessary they, like the bulk of their class, unhesitatingly used it. No term of reproach was more invested with cutting contempt and cruel hatred than that of a horse thief. The case looked black. The great fire of 1871 destroyed the firms buildings, but they were replaced. The Government and the public were forced to pay the highest sums for the poorest material. THE GOELET FORTUNE. This railroad was built in the proportion of twelve parts to one by public funds, raised by taxation of the people of that State, and by prodigal gifts of public land grants.