Edwin Gould I

Edwin Gould Sr. (February 26, 1866 – July 12, 1933) was an American railway official, investor and member of the wealthy Gould family.

Early life

Gould was born in Manhattan, New York City, to railroad financier Jay Gould on February 26, 1866. ''Time'' magazine writes on July 24, 1933:

He studied at Columbia University and was a member of the class of 1888 in the Columbia School of Mines. In 1896, he donated $18,000 to fund the crew team's boathouse, which is still named in his honor.

Career

From 1917 to 1918, during World War I, he served with Squadron A, New York National Guard. In 1918, he was major of ordnance in the First Brigade of the New York Guard. He was chosen a captain in the 71st Regiment of the New York State Guard.

He served as secretary of the St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas Railway until it was reorganized as the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and later served as vice-president and president of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway. He organized the Continental Match Company in 1894 (consolidated with the Diamond Match Company in 1899). He was president of the Bowling Green Trust Company and vice-president of the American Writing Paper Company and president of the Five Boroughs Realty Company. He also served as a director of many railroad and other corporations before his retirement in 1926.

Personal life

For many years, Gould lived in Dobbs Ferry, on a huge estate, Agawam, that sat along the Hudson River. Gould was a generous benefactor to the small village, and one of his contributions, Gould Park, remains an important recreational site for village residents.Village Historian
/ref> He was also a very active member of the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, along with J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller among others. In 1900, Gould purchased the former cottage of David H. King Jr., "a single-storied, Italian Renaissance house surrounding a central courtyard, complete with a swimming pool fed by an artesian well."

On October 26, 1892, Gould married Sarah Cantine Shrady (–1951), the only daughter of George F. Shrady of New York. Together, they had two sons:

* Edwin Gould Jr. (1894–1917), who died from a hunting accident at the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia in 1917.
* Frank Miller Gould (–1945), who married Florence Amelia Bacon in 1924. They divorced in Reno in 1944 and Frank remarried to Helen Dolores ( Roosen) Curran at Macon, Georgia, on June 7, 1944, shortly before his death in 1945.

Gould died on July 12, 1933. After his dinner he complained of not feeling well, and died after midnight in his bed, at his estate Highwood in Oyster Bay Cove, New York. He was buried in the family mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery. Upon his death, his widow reportedly inherited $10 million.

Descendants

Through his son Frank, he was a grandfather of Marianne Gould (1926–1957), who married (and later divorced) Lt. John W. McDonough, and New York real estate investor Edwin Jay Gould (1932–1993).

References

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Burials in the Jay Gould Mausoleum
Columbia School of Mines alumni
Businesspeople from Manhattan