John J. Cisco (April 26, 1806 - March 23, 1884), was a merchant in the

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

business 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 ...

, who retired at the age of thirty-six with a fortune. Some eleven years later, in 1853 President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

appointed Cisco to the office of Assistant Treasurer of the United States, and placed in charge of the Sub-Treasury in New York. He was later also appointed to this office by President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

. After serving under two Democratic Presidents, Cisco expected to be replaced by the incoming Republican administration of

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate State ...

, but was kept on. He served under Lincoln until the Spring of 1864, when Cisco resigned the post due to poor health. He had a City named after him ( Cisco, TX ) due to his enormous help in the construction of Dallas and Houston.

Family and residence

He had four children and three marriages. He married Maria Devoo, Mary Anne Cregier and Eliza Porter Sandford. His children were: Maria Devo, Sarah Jane, John Ashfield, and Caroline Augusta. They lived in a house on Grymes Hill in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York erected in 1855 by Ernest Cazet, with grounds designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

, the noted landscape architect.

Other activities

After his retirement as Assistant Treasurer of the United States, at the insistence of President Lincoln, he was appointed government director and treasurer of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisco, John J. 1806 births 1884 deaths People from Grymes Hill, Staten Island 19th-century American merchants United States Department of the Treasury officials Pierce administration personnel Buchanan administration personnel Lincoln administration personnel