Robert McKay (American football)

Robert Gordon McKay (May 3, 1887 – November 26, 1958) was an American football player and investment banker. He played college football for the Harvard Crimson football team from 1908 to 1910 and was selected as a first-team All-American football player in 1908 and 1910. He later became an investment banker in New York.

Robert McKay
Harvard Crimson
PositionTackle
ClassGraduate
Personal information
Born:May 3, 1887
Frankfort, Maine, or Paris, France
Died:November 26, 1958(1958-11-26) (aged 71)
Muttontown, New York, U.S.
Career history
CollegeHarvard (1908–1910)
Career highlights and awards

Early years edit

McKay was born in 1887 in either Frankfort, Maine,[1] or Paris, France.[2] He was the son of Gordon McKay and Baroness Marion Treat von Bruning.[3] He attended preparatory school at the Phillips Academy,[4] before enrolling at Harvard College.

Harvard edit

McKay played college football at the tackle position for the Harvard Crimson football team from 1908 to 1910. In 1908, he was selected as an All-American by The Christian Science Monitor.[5] In 1909, he was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp,[6] and in 1910, he was selected as a first-team All-American by Camp.[7] He also played for the Harvard Crimson baseball team as a pitcher.[4]

Later years edit

After graduating from Harvard in 1911, McKay moved to Seattle and then operated a sheep ranch in Montana.[1][8] During World War I, he was commander of the 305th Infantry Machine Gun Company (nicknamed "Death") of New York's 77th Division. After the war, he worked as an investment banker before retiring in 1937.[8] McKay was associated for a time with the North American Company.[3] He also served in the military during World War II, reaching the rank of colonel.[3][8]

McKay was married twice.[8] In August 1923, he was married at Garrison, New York, to Virginia Osborn Sanger, the daughter of Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History.[3] His first wife died in 1955.[8] In January 1957, McKay was married to Alexandra Emery Moore of Muttontown, New York, in a ceremony at the bride's winter home near Monticello, Florida.[9] McKay died at his home in Syosset, New York in November 1958 at age 71.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Harvard College Class of 1911 - Decennial Report. Harvard College. 1921. p. 267.
  2. ^ June Hall McCash (1998). Nineteenth Century Cottages. University of Georgia Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780820319285.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mrs. Sanger Weds Robert G. McKay: Daughter of Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn Married in Church of St. Philip's at Garrison; Troth of Former Captain in 77th Division and Widow of Capt. Sanger Had Not Been Told". The New York Times. August 20, 1923.
  4. ^ a b "University Baseball Statistics". The Harvard Crimson. June 22, 1911.
  5. ^ Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1909. p. 27.
  6. ^ "Six Yale Men on Camp's First Team" (PDF). The New York Times. December 19, 1909.
  7. ^ "Three Westerners Selected By Camp: Benbrook and Wells of Michigan and Walker of Minnesota Named for All-American". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-12-11.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Robert G. M'Kay, 71, A Retired Banker". The New York Times. November 28, 1958.
  9. ^ "Mrs. Alexandra Moore Rewed". The New York Times. January 8, 1957.