Adam Norrie (February 13, 1796 – June 6, 1882) was a Scottish-American iron merchant who was a founder of St. Luke's Hospital and who served as the president of the

Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York The Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York is the oldest Charitable organization, charitable institution in the state of New York (state), New York and is focused on helping Scots in the New York community with the motto Charity, Fello ...

Early life

Norrie was born on February 13, 1796, in

Montrose, Angus Montrose ( ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Situated north of Dundee and south of Aberdeen, Montrose lies between the mouths of the River North Esk, Angus, North and River South Esk, South Esk rivers. It is the northe ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was a son of John Norrie and the former Margaret Smith. He received his education in Montrose.

Career

At nineteen years old, Norrie went to Gottenburg,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he spent nine years working for a large iron manufacturing firm. In 1823, he went to the United States as representative of the Swedish iron manufacturers to look into building up the iron trade between the two countries. Once in the U.S. Norrie entered into a partnership with James Boorman and John Johnston, known as Boorman, Johnston & Co. to principally transact in Swedish iron. He was admitted as a partner in 1828. Their office was located on

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

near Cedar Street. After Boorman and Johnston died, Johnston's son, James Boorman Johnston, became Norrie's partner and they ran the firm from an office on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

(over the Bank of the Republic) until Norrie's retirement in 1875. Norrie later became one of the original stockholders of the canal between

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

and

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

and one of the largest stockholders of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Michigan Railroad. He also served as vice president of the Bank of Savings and a director of the Bank of Commerce from its inception. He was also a trustee of the Royal Insurance Company and served as the chairman of its Finance Committee. He was also a founder of St. Luke's Hospital. Norrie joined the

in 1827, qualifying as a life member in 1867. He served as Manager from 1838 to 1840, second vice-president from 1843 to 1851, and president from 1851 to 1862.

Personal life

On May 16, 1827, Norrie was married to Mary Johanna Van Horne (1799–1873) at Trinity Church in Manhattan. Mary was a daughter of Garett Van Horne and Ann Margaret (

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 ...

Clarkson) Van Horn. Together, Mary and Adam were the parents of: * Ann Margaret Norrie (d. 1905), who married George Lewis Augustus Moke (1814–1875), a son of Dr. Charles Alexander Moke and Martha (née Masterston) Moke. * Gordon Norrie (1830–1909), who married Emily Frances Lanfear, a daughter of Ambrose Lanfear. * Mary Van Horn Norrie (1832–1888), who married David Plenderleath Sellar (1833–1901), son of

Patrick Sellar Patrick Sellar (1780–1851) was a Scottish lawyer, factor and sheep farmer. He had a prominent and controversial role in the Highland clearances as factor on the Sutherland Estate, a particularly large landholding in the Scottish highlands. He ...

. * Julia Nickel Norrie (1839–1921), who married Warren Carpenter Beach (1844–1922) in 1883. Norrie died on June 6, 1882, at 303 Fifth Avenue, his residence in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Descendants

Through his daughter Margaret, he was a grandfather of George Edward Moke Norrie (1858–1920) and great-grandfather of Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie (1893–1977), who served as

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

and

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

. Through his son Gordon, he was a grandfather of Ambrose Lanfear Norrie (who married Ethel Lynde Barbey, a daughter of

Mary Lorillard Barbey Mary Lorillard Barbey (April 17, 1841 – April 10, 1926) was a prominent American member of New York Society during the Gilded Age. She was a daughter of Pierre Lorillard III of the Lorillard Tobacco Company. Early life Mary Lorillard was ...

and granddaughter of tobacco magnate

Pierre Lorillard III Pierre Lorillard III (October 20, 1796 – October 6, 1867) was the grandson of Pierre Abraham Lorillard, the founder of P. Lorillard and Company. Heir to a great tobacco fortune, Lorillard owned no less than of undeveloped land in New York's O ...

), Mary Lanfear Norrie, Dr. Van Horne Norrie, Sara Goodhue Norrie, Adam Gordon Norrie (who married Margaret Lewis Morgan, sister of Geraldine Livingston Morgan), Emily Lanfear Norrie, who died unmarried in 1936. Through his daughter Mary, he was a grandfather of Norrie Sellar, a prominent cotton broker who married Sybil Katherine Sherman (the daughter of

William Watts Sherman William Watts Sherman (August 4, 1842 – January 22, 1912) was a New York City businessman and the treasurer of the Newport Casino. In 1875–1876 he had the William Watts Sherman House constructed in Newport, Rhode Island. Early life ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norrie, Adam 1796 births 1882 deaths People from Montrose, Angus 19th-century American merchants American bankers American businesspeople in shipping Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York Scottish emigrants to the United States