William Jay (February 12, 1841 – March 28, 1915) was an American soldier and a lawyer. He served in the Union Army as a lieutenant colonel during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He served as the 40th President of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York.

Early life

Jay was born on February 12, 1841. He was the only son born to

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

(1817–1894), a lawyer and diplomat, and Eleanor Kingsland (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Field) Jay (1819–1909). He was the brother of Eleanor (née Jay) Chapman, wife of Henry Grafton Chapman Jr. (the president of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, son of abolitionist

Maria Weston Chapman Maria Weston Chapman (July 25, 1806 – July 12, 1885) was an American abolitionist. She was elected to the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1839 and from 1839 until 1842, she served as editor of the anti-slavery journ ...

, and father of John Jay Chapman); John S. Jay, who died young; Augusta (née Jay) Robinson, wife of Edmund Randolph Robinson (son of prominent civil engineer

Moncure Robinson Moncure Robinson (February 2, 1802 – November 10, 1891) was an American civil engineer and railroad executive. He was one of the leading engineers for railroad survey and construction projects from the 1820s to the 1840s. He conducted surveys f ...

); and Mary (née Jay) Schieffelin, wife of William Henry Schieffelin (son of author Samuel Schieffelin). His paternal grandparents were Judge William Jay and Augusta (née McVickar) Jay. He was the great-grandson of Founding Father

, the 1st

Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...

. His maternal grandparents were Eleanor and Hickson Woolman Field (uncle to Benjamin Hazard Field). His grandfather was a prominent merchant in New York City. Jay entered Columbia College, graduating in 1859.

Career

Jay, who reportedly inherited his father's anti-slavery views, entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War and served throughout the conflict, earning the rank of brevet Lieutenant Colonel and serving on the staff of General

George Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army and the Union army as Major General in command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War from 1 ...

, Commander of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

. Jay fought in the Battles of Gettysburg, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, and Appomattox. After the War ended, Jay returned to Columbia where he entered the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

, graduating in 1868. Upon passing the bar exam, he entered into a partnership with Flamen B. Chandler known as Jay & Chandler and located at

48 Wall Street 48 Wall Street, formerly the Bank of New York & Trust Company Building, is a 32-story, skyscraper on the corner of Wall Street and William Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1927–1929 in the N ...

. Chandler was formerly the partner of Edgar S. Van Winkle, who in turn had been partners with

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

. Jay focused his extensive practice on important trusts and estates as well as railroad an industrial matters. He was also attorney for

James Gordon Bennett Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was an American publisher. He was the publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as ...

, publisher of the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

''. Jay also served as the vice president of the ''New York Herald'', president of the New York Cab Company and the Valley Farms Company. He was a director of the

Commercial Cable Company The Commercial Cable Company was founded in New York in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr. Their motivation was to break the then virtual monopoly of Jay Gould on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices (particular ...

and the New York Mortgage and Security Company.

Society and sporting interests

A noted horseman, he was the first president and one of the founders (along with his friend DeLancey Astor Kane) of The Coaching Club in 1876, the pioneer coaching club, serving until 1896. He was also one of the earliest members of the Westminster Polo Club and serving as president of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club in Long Island. He was a member of the City Club, the Century Club, the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most Aristocracy (class), aristocratic gent ...

, the

Sons of the Revolution The Sons of the Revolution (SR), formally the General Society of the Sons of the Revolution (GSSR), is a patriotic organization headquartered at Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. A nonprofit corporation, the Sons of the Revolution was foun ...

, the

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

, the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and former president of The Huguenot Society of America. Jay also served as the 40th President of the

Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York is a charitable organization in New York City of men who are descended from early inhabitants of the State of New York. Thomas S Johnson is the current president. The organization preserves his ...

Personal life

In June 1878, Jay was married to Lucie Oelrichs (1854–1931). Lucie was the daughter of Henry Ferdinand Oelrichs, a leading New York merchant, and Julia Matilda (''née'' May) Oelrichs, and the sister of Hermann Oelrichs and Charles May Oelrichs. Together, they resided at 22

East 72nd Street 72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in New York City's borough of Manhattan. The street primarily runs through the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods. It is one of the few streets to go through C ...

and the old family estate, known as Bedford House in

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,603 at the 2020 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, ...

. William and Lucie were the parents of: * Julia Jay (1879–1896), a twin who died aged 17. * Eleanor Jay (1882–1953), who married Arthur Iselin (1878–1952), grandson of

Adrian Georg Iselin Adrian Georg Iselin (January 17, 1818March 28, 1905) was a New York financier who invested in and developed real estate, railroads, and mining operations. For many years during his early business career he was engaged in importing with his broth ...

, in 1904. * Dorothy Jay (1887–1889), who died in infancy of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

. Jay died of heart disease on March 28, 1915, at the

Greenbrier Hotel The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States. Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of th ...

White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2020 census. The city emblem consists of five dandelion flowers and the citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festiva ...

. After a funeral at Trinity Church, Jay was buried in the Jay Family vault at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Churchyard in Bedford, New York. His estate was valued between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000 at his death.

Descendants

Through his daughter Eleanor, he was the grandfather of Dorothy Iselin Paschal (1905–1981), the wife of Guy Sherman Paschal; and William Jay Iselin (1908–1951), the father of

John Jay Iselin John Jay Iselin (December 8, 1933 – May 6, 2008) was an American magazine and television journalist, editor, and publisher. He served as president of WNET, president of the Cooper Union, and president of the Marconi Foundation at Columbia Univer ...

; Arthur Iselin Jr.; and Eleanor Iselin, who married Thomas Frothingham Mason (grand-nephew of

Edward Sandford Martin Edward Sandford Martin (2 January 1856 – 13 June 1939) was an American journalist and editor. Biography Edward S. Martin was born in 1856 on his grand-uncle Enos T. Throop's estate "Willowbrook" near Auburn, New York. His mother, Cornelia Wi ...

, founder of ''Life'' magazine) in 1932.

References

External links

*
Portrait of Col. William Jay
by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

, 1888. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, William 1841 births 1915 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Union army officers American newspaper people Presidents of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York Jay family American corporate directors People from the Upper East Side People from Katonah, New York Oelrichs family