Nathaniel Platt Bailey (June 7, 1809 – October 12, 1891)
was an American merchant and philanthropist.
Early life
Bailey was born on June 7, 1809, at
Chateangay near
Plattsburgh, New York
Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...
. He was the son of William Bailey (1763–1840) and his second wife, Phoebe (
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 ...
Platt) Bailey (1779–1859). His father's first wife was Hannah Hagaman, who died in 1798. Among his siblings was Phebe Altie Bailey, and
Theodorus Bailey, John William Bailey, and Mary Elizabeth Bailey.
His father was a pioneer settler and surveyor in
Clinton and
Franklin Counties who later became a Judge.
His paternal grandparents were Altje (née Van Wyck) Bailey and Col. John Bailey. His uncle was
Theodorus Bailey, a
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 ...
and
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from New York.
His maternal grandparents were Phebe (née Smith) Platt and Capt. Nathaniel Platt (brother of
Zephaniah Platt and uncle to Judge
Jonas Platt and New York State Treasurer
Charles Z. Platt).
Career
In 1824, Bailey came to New York and entered into business as a merchant, retiring when he was thirty-five years old.
He was a Vestryman of
Trinity Church served as a senior Governor of
New York Hospital.
Bailey also owned in the
Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, part of what is now called West Fordham (formerly the site of Fort No. 6 during the
Revolutionary War, extending from Fordham Road to
Kingsbridge Road and from Bailey Avenue to University Avenue.
There, Bailey built a large mansion that overlooked the
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland.
The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...
, and, reportedly, the
New Jersey Palisades to the west.
Upon his death, the estate was subdivided into streets and avenues and the bulk of the property became the grounds of the current
U.S. Veterans Medical Center.
Bailey was a member of the
Union League Club, the
Union Club, the
Century Club and the
Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, for which he served one term as president the
26th President in 1884, succeeding
Abraham Riker Lawrence.
He previously served as third vice-president in 1879, second vice-president in 1880 to 1881, and first vice-president from 1882 to 1883.
Personal life
On July 26, 1836, Bailey was married to Eliza Meier Lorillard (1815–1900).
Eliza was a daughter of Jacob Lorillard Jr., a wealthy leather merchant, and a granddaughter of Jacob Lorillard (son of
Pierre Abraham Lorillard, founder of the
Lorillard Tobacco Company
Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport (cigarette), Newport, Maverick (cigarette), Maverick, Old Gold (cigarette), Old Gold, Kent (cigarette), Kent, True (cigarette), True, ...
). Her sister Emily Lorillard married
Lewis G. Morris.
Together, they were the parents of three children, including:
* Ann Mary Bailey (1837–1864), who married her second cousin, Theodorus Bailey Woolsey (1839–1907),
a grandson of
Theodorus Bailey.
* Lorillard Bailey (1839–1860), a twin who died aged 21, unmarried.
* James Muhlenberg Bailey (1839–1897), a twin who married Alletta Remsen Lynch (1870–1930),
a daughter of Edward Livingston Lynch and a descendant of
Robert Livingston, first Lord of
Livingston Manor
Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. Located between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border, the Livingston Manor was locate ...
, and
Robert R. Livingston of
Clermont.
Bailey died at his country residence in
Fordham Heights in New York City on October 12, 1891. After a funeral at Trinity Chapel on
West 25th Street, he was buried alongside his family in the
Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...
.
[New York Surrogate's Court Book of Wills 31 December 1891. Liber 466, Page 64.] In 1899, his Bronx estate was sold to the
Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...
for $290,000 (equivalent to $ today) and was used to operate the Roman Catholic
Orphan Asylum.
Descendants and legacy
Through his son James, he was a grandfather of Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Bailey (1883–1935),
an amateur architectural historian and photographer,
who married
Lewis Gouverneur Morris
Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (June 4, 1882 – August 14, 1967) was a banker and prominent social figure in New York and Newport Society.
Early life
Morris was born on June 4, 1882, in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the son of Francis Morris (1845†...
II (1882–1967)
in 1908.
After Alletta's death, Morris remarried to
Anita de Braganza, widow of
Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu.
Bailey is the namesake of a playground known as Bailey Playground and bounding Bailey Avenue in
Kingsbridge, Bronx
Kingsbridge is a residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx, New York City. Kingsbridge's boundaries are Manhattan College Parkway to the north, the Major Deegan Expressway or Bailey Avenue to the east, West 230th Street to t ...
.
References
External links
Portrait of Nathaniel Platt Baileyby
Henry Inman, , at 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 ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Nathaniel Platt
1809 births
1891 deaths
American philanthropists
Lorillard family
Fordham, Bronx
Presidents of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York