Robert Henry McCurdy
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Robert Henry McCurdy (April 14, 1800 – April 5, 1880)''U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925''; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C. was an American businessman and political candidate. He amassed great wealth with partner Herman D. Aldrich as the co-founder of McCurdy and Aldrich, a commission firm which traded Southern cotton and other dry goods prior to the
Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...
. He lost his bid for Congress as a Whig in the late 1850s, and served as Commissary-General for the State of New York 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 ...
.


Early life

Robert Henry McCurdy was born in 1800 in
Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Conn ...
. He was the son of Ursula Wolcott (
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 ...
Griswold) McCurdy and Richard McCurdy, a
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
graduate who served in the
Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...
. His older brother, Charles Johnson McCurdy (1797–1891), went on to serve as Lt. Governor of Connecticut as well as the United States Chargé to the Austrian Empire from 1850 to 1852. He was of Scotch Irish descent on his paternal side; as early as 1503, King
James VI James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...
leased the vast majority of the Isle of Bute to the MacKurerdy family (later McCurdy). His paternal grandfather, John McCurdy, emigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1745 prior to the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
. His mother's family was of English descent and his maternal great-grandfather, Matthew Griswold, served as the 17th Governor of Connecticut from 1784 to 1786.


Career

In 1814, McCurdy moved to
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 ...
and started working for Stephen Lockwood, a merchant. Shortly after, he was sent for work for Lockwood in
Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...
, where he purchased cotton on commission. In 1820, along with Herman D. Aldrich, McCurdy co-founded McCurdy & Aldrich, a dry goods commission firm. It later became known as McCurdy, Aldrich and Spencer. They retired with great wealth prior to the
Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...
. In 1857, McCurdy ran for the 35th United States Congress as a Whig, but he lost to Democratic politician John Cochrane. 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 was a staunch supporter of the Union, and he served as Commissary-General for the State of New York. Additionally, McCurdy made contributions to the Union Defense Committee of New York. It was also during the war that he became a founding member of the Union League Club of New York. McCurdy was a co-founder of the Continental Fire Insurance Company. He was also a founding trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. He also served on the board of directors of the Merchants Exchange Bank and the American Exchange National Bank.


Personal life

McCurdy married Gertrude Mercer Lee (1809–1876), niece of
Theodore Frelinghuysen Theodore Frelinghuysen (March 28, 1787April 12, 1862) was an American politician who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate. He was the Whig vice presidential nominee in the election of 1844, running on a ticket with Henry Clay. ...
, a United States Senator and former vice presidential candidate. Together, they were the parents of a number of children, including: * Gertrude Mercer McCurdy (1827–1909), who married
Gardiner Greene Hubbard Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897) was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Teleph ...
(1822–1897), the first president of the
Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company was the initial corporate entity from which the Bell System originated to build a continental conglomerate and monopoly in telecommunication services in the United States and Canada. The company was organized in Bost ...
* Theodore Frelinghuysen McCurdy (1829–1897), who married Carolyn Hubbard (1826–1868), sister of Gardiner. After her death, he married Anna Hubbard Gillette (1841–1927). * Richard Aldrich McCurdy (1835–1916), who married Sarah Ellen Little (b. 1835), the daughter of publisher Charles Coffin Little. * Sarah Lord McCurdy (1842–1914), who married Dr. Elias Joseph Marsh (1838–1908), a
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
graduate. * Roberta Wolcott McCurdy (1845–1920), who married Charles Mercer Marsh, Esq. (1841–1902), who practiced law with Benjamin T. Kissam. McCurdy died on April 5, 1880. His funeral was held as a joint ceremony with Herman D. Aldrich, who died on the same day, at the Calvary Church. The funeral was attended by
Peter Cooper Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the ''Tom Thumb (locomotive), Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union ...
, William E. Dodge,
Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (August 4, 1817May 20, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey who served as a U.S. Senator and later as United States Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur. Frelinghuysen was ...
,
James Watson Webb General James Watson Webb (February 8, 1802 – June 7, 1884) was an American diplomat, newspaper publisher and a New York politician in the Whig and Republican parties. Early life Webb was born in Claverack, New York to Catherine Louisa (nà ...
,
Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was an American printer, newspaper publisher, and Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor t ...
, etc. His sermon was given by George L. Prentiss, a Presbyterian pastor of the Union Theological Seminary. He was buried at the
Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...
next to Aldrich. McCurdy's portrait was commissioned by the
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, inc ...
in 1886.


Descendants

Through his daughter Gertrude, he was the grandfather of
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard Mabel Gardiner Hubbard BellEber, Dorothy Harley in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003, accessed August 8, 2013.Toward, 1984. (November 25, 1857 – January 3, 1923) was an American busine ...
(1859–1923), who married inventor
Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...
, the son of
Alexander Melville Bell Alexander Melville Bell (1 March 18197 August 1905) was a teacher and researcher of articulatory phonetics, physiological phonetics and was the author of numerous works on orthoepy and elocution. Additionally he was also the creator of Visible ...
, and Roberta Wolcott Hubbard (1859–1885), who married businessman Charles James Bell, the son of David Charles Bell and a cousin of Alexander Graham Bell. Through his son Richard, he was the grandfather of
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
graduate Robert Henry McCurdy (b. 1859), who married Mary Suckley in 1898, and Gertrude Lee McCurdy (d. 1930), who married sportsman and philanthropist Louis A. Thebaud (1859–1939).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCurdy, Robert Henry 1800 births 1880 deaths People from Lyme, Connecticut American people of English descent American people of Scotch-Irish descent American company founders Businesspeople from New York City American corporate directors 19th-century American businesspeople