Henry Foster Spaulding (1817 - 1893)

Born 24 Apr 1817 in Brandon, Rutland, Vermont, United States

Husband of Katherine Devereux (Beckwith) Spaulding — married 15 Jun 1857 in Petersburg City, Virginia

Died 17 Jul 1893 at age 76 in Riverdale, Bronx, New York, United States

Biography

Wife # 1: Rose Thompson (1825–1854), with whom he had 3 children, Thomas Hunt Spaulding (1851–1908), Margaret Thompson Spaulding Schley (1852–1911), and Rose Thompson Spaulding (1854–1861)

Found in Find A Grave:

Henry Foster Spaulding, merchant, banker and financial advisor, was born in Brandon, Vermont on April 24th 1817 and died July 17th 1893 at his summer home in Riverdale-on-the-Hudson. Henry F. Spaulding was universally regarded in business and social circles in New York City.

Henry Spaulding was a son of Samuel Browne Spaulding and Anne [née Grey] Spaulding. Henry moved to New York City at the age of fifteen, with less than $20 of capital. He sought employment from store to store and found it in the house of Clark, Weyman & Co., importers of woolen goods. Having thus secured a foothold, he rose by unsparing labor from one position to another. About 1850, his name appeared in the title of the firm, which then became Weyman, Spaulding & Co. When the firm reorganized as Spaulding, Vail & Fuller, the clerk had at last risen to the head of a house into whose employment he had entered a poor lad. Owing to changes in the partnership, the house was known later as Spaulding, Hunt & Co., and Spaulding, Swift & Co.

Mr. Spaulding was the first president of The Central Trust Co., and held the office for eight years. His salary went entirely to charity. He remained a director the rest of his life and was also a director of The Continental Insurance Co. and The Mechanics' National Bank and a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Committee of Seventy. The stone upon which the bronze statue of Washington stands at the Sub-Treasury building is the identical one, upon which Washington stood at his first inauguration. It was traced and rescued by Mr. Spaulding from a place in the walls of Bellevue Hospital. He was exceedingly philanthropic and served as treasurer of the fund for the pedestal of Bartholdi's statue of Liberty, president of The Home for Incurables and Commissioner for Appraisal of Lands for the new Croton Aqueduct, and belonged to the Century, Manhattan, Reform, Country and Down Town clubs and New England Society, and aided in the support of the public museums of the city.

In 1850, he married Rose Thompson, of Penn's Manor, Pennsylvania, who died four years afterward. Of their three children, two survived to adulthood, Thomas Hunt Spaulding and Margaret Thompson, wife of Dr. James Montfort Schley. In 1857, he married Miss Katherine Devereux Beckwith, of Petersburg, Virginia. There were no children born to this union.

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Additional information from Mandy Cummings Colgan, Archivist and Historian, Christ Church Riverdale, Bronx NY.

Henry Foster Spaulding

(April 24, 1817 - July 17, 1893)

Wool Merchant, Banker

Henry Foster Spaulding was born on April 24, 1817, in Brandon, VT, to Samuel G. and Anna Grey Spaulding. In 1850, he married Rose Thompson, who died in 1854. Children were Thomas Hunt Spaulding married Frances Albertina Bates and Margaret Thompson Spaulding married Dr. J. M. Schley. In 1857, he married Miss Kate Devereux Beckwith.

He came to New York city at the age of fifteen and found employment as a clerk at Clark, Weyman & Co., importers of woolen goods. In 1850, he organized the wool importing company of Spaulding, Vail & Fuller. The 1859 Trow’s New York City Directory lists the company as Spaulding, Vail & Fuller, importers and domestic, commission, 53 Park Place. Walter Vail owned an estate in Riverdale to the east of Henry F. Spaulding. With changes in the partnership, the company was also known as Spaulding, Hunt & Co., and Spaulding, Swift & Co.

He was a founding incorporator and the first president of the Central Trust Co. He remained a director of Central Trust until his death in 1893. He was also a director of The Continental Insurance Co. and The Mechanics' National Bank. He was a director of the Great Western (Marine) Insurance Company, along with Samuel D. Babcock, and a director of the Queen Insurance Company of Liverpool & London, with Samuel D. Babcock and Martin Bates. He was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce and of the Committee of Seventy. He was the Commissioner for Appraisal of Lands for the new Croton Aqueduct.

Henry Foster Spaulding was instrumental in realizing the completion of the Statue of Liberty. The idea for the Statue of Liberty came from an 1865 dinner party held by Edouard-Rene de Laboulaye, head of the Franco-American Union. The Union wanted to commemorate the French American friendship started in the American Revolutionary War. The Statue was to be completed for centennial year of 1876. However, lack of funds was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In January 1877, the American Committee for the construction of the pedestal was formed. William M. Evarts was elected chairman, Henry Foster Spaulding, treasurer, and Richard Butler, secretary. Financing for the pedestal was completed in August 1885, and pedestal construction was finished in April of 1886. The dedication of the Statue of Liberty took place ten year later than planned on October 28, 1886. Henry was also Commissioner for Appraisal of Lands for the new Croton Aqueduct.

In 1856, Henry F. Spaulding bought land in Riverdale from William G. Ackerman and planned a community of country villas called "The Park, Riverdale." He completed three villas and set aside a park along the Hudson River. The park and two of the villas, “Parkside” and “Oaklawn”, are still in existence as well as a coachman’s residence located at 4970 Independence Avenue. “Oaklawn” became his personal estate. The villas are now part of the Riverdale Country Lower School. Henry Foster Spaulding was a founding vestryman of Christ Church.

Henry Foster Spaulding died at his home in Riverdale on July 17, 1893. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY with his wives Rose and Katherine.

Sources:

1) America's successful men of affairs / Henry Hall, New York, New York Tribune, 1895, pg.609

2) The National cyclopedia of American biography, New York, J. T. White, 1894, vol.5 pg.266.

3) “Central Trust Company of New York”, New York Bank History / Bob Kerstein, Scripophily.com

4) History of The Statue of Liberty / The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation Inc., http://www.statueofliberty.org/Statue_History.html

5) The Architechtural and Historical Resources of Riverdale, The Bronx, New York: A Preliminary Survey / Riverdale Nature Preservancy, October 1998

Sources

Ancestry.com and Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58030782/henry-foster-spaulding)