George Merritt (August 14, 1807 – October 5, 1873) was a businessman from New York. He owned the mansion Lyndhurst on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, which was sold to financier

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...

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 Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. Washington County is part of the Glen ...

. He was a son of Benjamin Merritt and Thankful ( Scott) Merritt. Beginning at the age of five, was educated at the Friends Boarding School at Nine Partners.

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. Merritt held a patent for a railroad car spring.

Personal life

On November 5, 1845, Merritt was married to Julia Douglas (1823–1904), a daughter of Ann ( Sutherland) Douglas (daughter of Solomon Sutherland) and Alanson Douglas, in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. She was a direct descendant of

The Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Roger Williams, who founded the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Together, they were the parents of six children, four of whom lived to adulthood. * Douglas Merritt (1847–1927), who married Elizabeth Cleveland Coxe, a daughter of the Rt. Rev.

Arthur Cleveland Coxe Arthur Cleveland Coxe (May 10, 1818 - July 20, 1896) was the second Episcopal bishop of Western New York. He used Cleveland as his given name and is often referred to as A. Cleveland Coxe. Biography He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Hanso ...

, Bishop of Western New York, in 1876. * Julia Douglas Merritt (1859–1892), who married Dr. Benjamin Franklin Dawson in 1884. * Annie Douglas (1849–1849), who died young. * Mary Merritt (1850–1911), who married John Peter Haines, president of the

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective me ...

, in 1873. * Cornelia Merritt (1853–1853), who died young. * George William Merritt (1856–1907), who was married three times, and was separated from his third wife, Alma Desajo, when he took his own life at the

Fifth Avenue Hotel The Fifth Avenue Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 200 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City from 1859 to 1908. It had an entire block of frontage between 23rd Street and 24th Street, at the southwest corner of Madison Square. S ...

in New York City. Merritt died of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...

on October 5, 1873, at his house in Irvington, New York. After a funeral at the Irvington Parish Church, he and was buried at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...

Lyndhurst

In 1864 Merritt bought Knoll, the former country estate of William S. Paulding, Jr. and hired architect

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...

to expand the estate, doubling the house's size in the

gothic revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

between 1864 and 1865, renaming it "Lyndenhurst" for the estate's linden trees. 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

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, George 1807 births 1873 deaths People from White Creek, New York 19th-century American businesspeople