Frederic D. Bronson, Jr. (July 20, 1851 – March 29, 1900) was a prominent American lawyer during the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

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 ...

Early life

Bronson was born on July 20, 1851, in New York City. He was the son of Frederic Bronson (1802–1868), and Charlotte (

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 ...

Brinckerhoff) Bronson (1818–1861). He was the brother of Charlotte Troup Bronson, who married Egerton Leigh Winthrop, Louisa Bronson, who married H. H. Hunnewell Jr. the son of Paris and Boston merchant banker

Horatio Hollis Hunnewell Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (July 27, 1810 – May 20, 1902) was an American railroad financier, philanthropist, amateur botanist, and one of the most prominent horticulturists in America in the nineteenth century. Hunnewell was a partner in the ...

, and Maria Bronson. He was the paternal grandson of Isaac Bronson, and a member of the extended Bronson family, which was prominent in business and society, including his uncle, Dr. Oliver Bronson. His maternal grandparents were James Lefferts Brinckerhoff and Charlotte (née Troup) Brinckerhoff, daughter of Lt. Col.

Robert Troup Robert Troup (1757 – January 14, 1832) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York ...

and Jannetje (née Goelet) Troup. His aunt Maria Lousia Brinckerhoff (1816–1866), was married to Robert Livingston Pell (1811–1880), a grandson of

James Duane James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, attorney, jurist, and American Revolutionary War, American Revolutionary leader from New York (state), New York. He serve ...

Career

Morris graduated from Columbia College in 1870, and later,

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, in 1873. He was a director of the Savings Bank for Merchants' Clerks and the treasurer of the New York Life and Trust Company, which was founded by his grandfather, Isaac Bronson. He also served as a trustee of Columbia University from 1896 until his death in 1900. From his election in 1893 until his death, he was a manager of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the City of New York.

Society life

In 1892, Bronson and his wife were both included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of America, widely accepted as the authority to which families could be classified as the cream of New York society ( The Fou ...

's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties A circle is divided into 400 grads. Integers from 401 to 499 400s 401 401 is a prime number, tetranacci number, Chen prime, prime index p ...

", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He served as the president of the New York Coaching Club, trustee of the City Club, vice-president of the Union Club in 1898. He was also a member of 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 ...

Racquet and Tennis Club The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. History The Racquet Court Club was organized April 28 ...

, Country Club,

Metropolitan Club Metropolitan Club may refer to: *Metropolitan Club (New York City), a private social club in Manhattan, New York, United States * Metropolitan Club (San Francisco), a women's club in San Francisco, California, United States * Metropolitan Club (Was ...

, Down Town Club, Riding Club, Church Club, and

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

Personal life

In 1875, he was married to Sarah Gracie King (1850–1931). She was the daughter of Archibald Gracie King and Elizabeth Denning (née Duer) King, and the granddaughter of

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

James Gore King and

William Alexander Duer William Alexander Duer (September 8, 1780 – May 30, 1858) was an American lawyer, jurist, and educator from New York City who served as the President of Columbia University from 1829 to 1842. He was also a slaveholder, owning numerous enslaved ...

. She was also the sister of May Denning King, who married John King Van Rensselaer, son of

Henry Bell Van Rensselaer Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (May 14, 1810 – March 23, 1864) was an American military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a politician who served in the United States Congress as a Representative from the state of ...

and grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the patroon of

Rensselaerwyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an English manor owned by the van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West Ind ...

. Her brother, Frederick Gore King (b. 1852), was the father of Alice Gore King. The Bronsons lived at 174 Madison Avenue and had a country home, "Verna" in

Southport, Connecticut Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River (Fairfield, Connecticut), Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport, Connecti ...

(which later became the Fairfield Country Day School). Together, they were the parents of: * Elizabeth Duer Bronson (1877–1914), who married Lloyd Carpenter Griscom (1872–1959), the

United States Ambassador to Italy Since 1840, the United States has had diplomacy, diplomatic representation in the Italian Republic and its predecessor nations, the Kingdom of Sardinia and then the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy, with a break in relations fro ...

who was a son of

Clement Griscom Clement Acton Griscom (March 15, 1841 – November 10, 1912) was an American shipping magnate and financier. Griscom was "without question, the key figure in American transatlantic shipping" by 1900. Biography Griscom was born in 1841 to a long ...

, the shipping magnate, in 1901. After her death in 1914, he remarried to Audrey M.E. Crosse in 1929. Bronson died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Palermo, Italy Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on March 29, 1900, after completing a Mediterranean voyage on '' Augusta Victoria'', a luxury ship owned by

North German Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

. His funeral was held at

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, officiated by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Henry C. Potter and he was buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Connecticut. The honorary pallbearers at his funeral were Frank Knight Sturgis, Adrian Iselin, Jr., Dr.

Francis Delafield Francis Delafield (August 3, 1841 – July 17, 1915)

, W. Bayard Cutting, George L. Rives, Johnston Livingston, A. J. Cassatt, Charles Gould, John Nish, and F. Delano Weeks. His widow, then 63, remarried in 1914 to his friend, Adrian Iselin, the banker who was then 67. She died in 1931.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bronson, Frederic 1851 births 1900 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City Deaths from pneumonia in Sicily 19th-century American lawyers