Thomas Jefferson Coolidge (August 26, 1831 – November 17, 1920) was a U.S. ambassador and a leading Boston businessman.

Early life

Coolidge was born to a Joseph Coolidge (1798–1879) and Ellen Wayles (Randolph) Coolidge (1796–1876). He was the brother of six siblings. He was born to a prominent

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

family and was a great-grandson of the 3rd United States President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, through his maternal grandparents,

Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (October 1, 1768 – June 20, 1828) was an American planter, soldier, and politician from Virginia. He served as a member of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, a representative in the United States Congress, a ...

and

Martha Jefferson Randolph Martha "Patsy" Randolph (Maiden and married names, ''née'' Jefferson; September 27, 1772 – October 10, 1836) was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his wife, Martha Jefferson, Martha Wayles ...

. His uncles were

Thomas Jefferson Randolph Thomas Jefferson Randolph (September 12, 1792 – October 7, 1875) of Albemarle County was a Virginia enslaver, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, ...

George Wythe Randolph George Wythe Randolph (March 10, 1818 – April 3, 1867) was a Virginia lawyer, planter, politician and Confederate general. After representing the City of Richmond during the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861, during eight months in 18 ...

, His father was a distant relative of

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

. He was an uncle to

Archibald Cary Coolidge Archibald Cary Coolidge (March 6, 1866 – January 14, 1928) was an American educator and diplomat. He was a professor of history at Harvard College from 1908 and the first director of the Harvard University Library from 1910 until his death. Co ...

(1866–1928) through his older brother, Joseph Randolph Coolidge. Coolidge was educated in private schools in Europe, and graduated from

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 ...

in 1850.

Career

Coolidge was involved in numerous

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

s, and banks. In 1853, he formed a partnership with Joseph Peabody Gardner, the father 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 ...

Augustus Peabody Gardner, in the East India trade. In 1875, he became the manager of the largest textile mill in America, the Amoskeag Mill in Manchester New Hampshire. Coolidge turned his attention to financing the rapidly growing industrial economy, with major interests in textiles banking, railroads, publishing and electricity. In 1880, he ended his manufacturing career and "took up railroading." Coolidge served as president of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

. In the early 1890s he retired from the railroads and returned to the Amoskeag Company, becoming president in 1898. He organized the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...

, of which his son, Thomas J. Coolidge, Jr., was president. Coolidge was involved in numerous civic enterprises Boston area, especially the design of the region's park system.

Public service

A Republican, he was appointed by

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

to succeed

Whitelaw Reid Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician, diplomat and newspaper editor, as well as the author of ''Ohio in the War'', a popular work of history. After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the ''New-Yo ...

United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations w ...

on May 12, 1892, a role his great-grandfather had held from May 1785 to September 1789. Coolidge presented his credentials on June 10, 1892 and he presented his recall on May 4, 1893, terminating his mission. In 1898 and 1899, he was a member of the American delegation to the commission to resolve the

Alaska boundary dispute The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which then controlled Canada's foreign relations. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903. The dispute had existe ...

. Historian Ernest May says Coolidge was, "a prototype member of what today we call the foreign policy establishment."

Philanthropy

Coolidge donated the Grand Army Hall and a public library to the town of

Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts Manchester-by-the-Sea (also known simply as Manchester, its name prior to 1990) is a coastal town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is known for scenic beaches and vista points. According to the 2020 populati ...

that cost more than $40,000. At Harvard, where he was an overseer from 1886 to 1897, he donated the Jefferson Research Laboratory and a chemical laboratory for quantitative analysis (as a memorial to his son), which all together cost over $165,000. In 1889, he gave another $5,000 to Harvard to be used as a prize for intercollegiate debates. In 1898, Coolidge donated a collection of Thomas Jefferson's personal papers to the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...

in Boston. The collection contained more than 8,000 items: Correspondence, including 3,280 letters that Jefferson had written and 4,630 letters that he had received; Jefferson's garden book (1766-1824) and farm book (1774-1824); annotated almanacs from 1771-1776; account books for 1783-1790; manuscript expense accounts from 1804-1825; notes on the weather spanning the years 1782-1826; plans of American forts in 1765; law treatises, 1778-1788; legal papers, 1770-1772; and Jefferson's 1783 catalog of his personal library.

Personal life

In 1852, he married Mehitable "Hetty" Sullivan Appleton (1831–1901), daughter of William Appleton, a leading financier of the New England cotton textile industry. They owned a residence in Boston and a summer home at Coolidge's Point in

. Together, they were the parents of: * Marian Appleton Coolidge (1853–1924), who married Lucius M. Sargent (1848–1893), a son of Horace Binney Sargent and grandson of Lucius Manlius Sargent. * Eleonora Randolph Coolidge (1856–1912), who married Frederick Richard Sears (1855–1939) grandson of

David Sears (America) David Sears II (October 8, 1787 – January 14, 1871) was a prominent 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, Boston philanthropist, merchant, real estate developer, and landowner. Early life Sears was born on October 8, 1787, in Boston, Massachusetts ...

* Sarah Lawrence Coolidge (1858–1922), who married New York State Senator Thomas Newbold (1849–1929). * Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr. (1863–1912), who graduated from Harvard in 1884, established the Old Colony Trust Company and was the head until his death in 1912. Coolidge died at his home, 315 Dartmouth St. in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, on November 17, 1920. He purchased ''

El Jaleo ''El Jaleo'' is a large painting by John Singer Sargent, depicting a Spanish Romani dancer performing to the accompaniment of musicians. Painted in 1882, it currently hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston. Background The painti ...

'' by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

and gifted it to

Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was an American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual curiosity ...

in 1914.PROVENANCE
''Gardner Museum''

Descendants

Through his son, he was the grandfather of Thomas Jefferson Coolidge III, Armory Coolidge and William A. Coolidge. Through his daughter Sarah, he was the grandfather of Thomas Jefferson Newbold, who married Katherine Hubbard in 1914. A granddaughter,

Eleonora Sears Eleonora Randolph Sears (September 28, 1881 – March 16, 1968) was an American tennis champion of the 1910s. In addition, she was a champion squash player, and prominent in other sports; she is considered one of the leading all-round women at ...

, became a prominent American sportswoman. The Coolidge family donated 42 acres of land to

The Trustees of Reservations ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in 1990 and 1991. The donated land is now part of the Coolidge Reservation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, T. Jefferson American financiers American industrialists Ambassadors of the United States to France American bankers Massachusetts Republicans Businesspeople from Boston Harvard University alumni Jefferson family 1831 births 1920 deaths