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T. J. Oakley Rhinelander

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Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander (June 5, 1858 – July 25, 1946) was an American heir and real estate magnate who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.[1]

T. J. Oakley Rhinelander
Born
Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander

(1858-06-05)June 5, 1858
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJuly 25, 1946(1946-07-25) (aged 88)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationColumbia Grammar School
Alma materColumbia College
Columbia Law School
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1894; died 1923)​
ChildrenPhilip Rhinelander
Parent(s)William Rhinelander
Matilda Caroline Oakley Rhinelander
RelativesLispenard Stewart (cousin)
Kip Rhinelander (nephew)
Thomas J. Oakley (grandfather)

Early life edit

Rhinelander was born on June 5, 1858, in New York City.[2] He was one of three sons born to William Rhinelander (1825–1908),[3] who grew up in Washington Square, and Matilda Cruger (née Oakley) Rhinelander (1827–1914), who grew up in Gramercy Park.[4] His younger brother was Philip Jacob Rhinelander (1865–1940),[5] who married Adelaide Brady Kip,[6] and was the father of his namesake, Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander II, who died fighting in France during World War I,[7] and Kip Rhinelander of the 1924 Rhinelander v. Rhinelander infamy.[8][9]

His maternal grandparents were U.S. Representative and Chief Justice of the Superior Court in New York, Thomas Jackson Oakley and Matilda (née Cruger) Oakley (the daughter of Henry Cruger, who had the unique distinction of serving as both a member of Parliament and as a New York State Senator). His paternal grandfather was prominent merchant William Christopher Rhinelander,[10] of whom his father was his only son.[3] Among his paternal aunts were Serena Rhinelander (who donated the former Rhinelander Farm for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church)[11] and Mary Rogers (née Rhinelander) Stewart,[12] the wife of Lispenard Stewart, mother of New York State Senator Lispenard Stewart II, T.J.'s first cousin,[13] and grandmother of socialite Anita de Braganza.

Rhinelander's ancestor, Philip Jacob Rhinelander, was a German-born French Huguenot who immigrated to the United States in 1686 following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,[14] settling in the newly formed French Huguenot community of New Rochelle, where he amassed considerable property holdings which became the basis for the Rhinelander family's wealth.[15]

Career edit

Rhinelander was educated at Columbia Grammar School,[16] and graduated from Columbia College with an AB degree in 1878. While there, he was a member of the Peithologian and Delta Phi secret societies.[16] Two years later, he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1880, was admitted to the bar in 1881,[2] and began working for the family helping to manage their vast real estate holdings.[1]

After his grandfather's death in June 1878, he inherited great wealth in the form of shares that held his grandfather's estate,[17][18] which was conservatively valued at $60,000,000 upon his death.[12] By 1893, the estate was said to be worth $75,000,000 with annual income in excess of $3,000,000.[12] He was elected a director and served as president of the Rhinelander Real Estate Company,[18] one of the largest landholders in New York City,[19] rivaling the Astor, Goelet, and Stuyvesant families.[20] Upon his father's death in 1908, the entire was estate left to his mother.[21] Upon her death in 1914, T.J. and his younger brother inherited all of her $2,000,000 estate, with their elder brother receiving just $1,000 due to his brother's marriage to a chambermaid employed by the family.[22]

Rhinelander served with the 7th Regiment, also known as the "Silk Stocking" regiment, and was generally called "Major".[1] He served 35 years with the Regiment, thirteen years with the Veterans Corps of Artillery and two with the Ninth Coast Artillery.[23]

Society life edit

 
Rhinelander's German castle, Schönburg, in Oberwesel on the Rhine.

In 1884, T.J. and his brother Philip purchased the ancient castle of Schönburg in Oberwesel on the Rhine river in Germany, where his famous emigrant ancestor was born.[3] Rhinelander restored the castle, which poet Ferdinand Freiligrath called "the most beautiful retreat on the Rhine," between 1885 and 1920.[24]

In 1892, Rhinelander and his future bride, Edith, (and cousin Lispenard Stewart) were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[25][26] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[27] He was a member of the Union Club of the City of New York, the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, and the Badminton Club.[1]

Rhinelander was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars, serving as historian general twice, from 1899 to 1902 and again from 1908 to 1911.[28] He was also a member of The Huguenot Society of America, serving as its treasurer from 1905 to 1906.[29]

Personal life edit

On June 6, 1894,[30] Rhinelander was married to Edith Cruger Sands (1874–1923),[31] bringing together two old New York families.[32] She was the daughter of Charles Edwin Sands (son of Ferdinand Sands) and Letitia S. (née Campbell) Sands.[30][33] Her older sister, Letitia Lee Sands, was married to Maturin Livingston Delafield Jr., a Livingston family descendant. Together, they lived at 36 West 52nd Street,[2] and were the parents of one child:[31]

  • Philip Rhinelander II (1895–1973),[34] who married Hortense LeBrun Cruger Parsons (1894–1968) in 1916.[35] She was a descendant of suffragette Lucretia Mott and colonial New York City mayor John Cruger.[19] They divorced in 1935,[36] and he married Hazel (née Marquis) Stuart (1892–1977), the widow of Charles Buchanan Stuart, that same year.[37]

After his wife's death, he continued to live in their ornate brownstone until three years before his death when he moved to 470 Park Avenue in New York City. Rhinelander died at his New York home on July 25, 1946.[1] He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Descendants edit

Through his son Phillip, he was the grandfather of socialites[38] LeBrun Cruger "Brunie" Rhinelander (1917–2012),[39][19] wife of financier William G. McKnight Jr.;[40][41] and Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander (1920–1989).[42]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "T.J.O. RHINELANDER DIES IN HOME AT 88; Figure in Society Controlled Large Realty Holdings Here-- Columbia Alumnus of '78" (PDF). The New York Times. July 26, 1946. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Leonard, John William (1907). Men of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. L.R. Hamersly. p. 1868. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "WILLIAM RHINELANDER DEAD. Descendant of Huguenot Who Fled Hither to Escape Persecution" (PDF). The New York Times. January 4, 1908. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  4. ^ "MRS. WM. RHINELANDER DIES A Founder of Colonial Dames of New York and Long Prominent in Society" (PDF). The New York Times. February 14, 1914. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  5. ^ "MAJ. RHINELANDER DIES IN LONG BEACH; Member of One of This City's Oldest Families Stricken at 74 After Operation LARGE OWNER OF REALTY A Veteran of the Old Seventh Regiment--An Ancestor Came as Exile in 1686" (PDF). The New York Times. March 19, 1940. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  6. ^ "MRS. P. RHINELANDER IS BURNED TO DEATH; Alcohol Lamp in Her Tuxedo Home Explodes, Enveloping Her in Flames. LINGERS FOR TWELVE HOURS Physicians Work All Night in an Effort to Save Her ;- Two Sons on Way from the Coast". The New York Times. September 12, 1915. p. 1.
  7. ^ Greene, Richard Henry (1940). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 71. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 305. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  8. ^ Norwich, William (April 1, 2012). "Blue Blood Marries "Colored Girl"". nymag.com. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  9. ^ Ardizzone, Heidi; Lewis, Earl (2002). Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 180. ISBN 9780393247466. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  10. ^ Lamb, Martha Joanna; Harrison, Mrs Burton (2005). History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise, and Progress. Cosimo, Inc. p. 723. ISBN 9781596052840. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  11. ^ "MISS RHINELANDER'S WILL. Old New Yorker Ignores Nephew Who Married a Servant" (PDF). The New York Times. June 27, 1914. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "MOURNED BY RICH AND POOR; MRS. LISPENARD STEWART BURIED FROM GRACE CHURCH. One of the Wealthiest Women in New-York City, She Was Noted for Her Benevolence -- Enormous Estates Which Date Back to the Time of the Revolution, and Which Now Go to Mrs. Stewart's Children -- A Representative Assemblage at the Services in Grace Church". The New York Times. 11 October 1893. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  13. ^ "LISPENARD STEWART DIES AT AGE OF 72; Lawyer, Former Head of State Prison Commission and Member of Old Family. ONCE SENATOR AT ALBANY Victim of Heart Disease. From Which He Had Suffered for Four Years". The New York Times. 16 October 1927. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  14. ^ "THE RHINELANDER FAMILY | AN OLD COLONIAL FORTUNE SCRAPS FROM THE FAMILY HISTORY--HOW THE ESTATE WAS ACQUIRED--REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD SUGAR-HOUSE IN WILLIAM-STREET" (PDF). The New York Times. June 23, 1878. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  15. ^ National American Society (1920). Americana, American historical magazine, Volume 14. University of California. p. 287.
  16. ^ a b The University Magazine. Columbia University. 1894. p. 49. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  17. ^ "THE RHINELANDER ESTATE.; WILL OF THE LATE WILLIAM C. RHINELANDER FIFTY MILLIONS DISPOSED OF" (PDF). The New York Times. June 25, 1878. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  18. ^ a b Mowbray, Jay Henry (1898). Representative Men of New York: A Record of Their Achievements. New York Press. pp. 145–147. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  19. ^ a b c "LeBrun Rhinelander McKnight Of Southampton Dies October 13 - Southampton Village & Surrounding Areas". The Southampton Press. October 23, 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  20. ^ "REAL ESTATE FORTUNES" (PDF). The New York Times. May 12, 1878. Retrieved 4 November 2018. In this City the ownership of real estate is commonly associated with the possession of wealth. The enormous possessions of the ASTORS, GOELETS, STEVENSES, LENOXES, STUYVESANTS, LORILLARDS, RHINELANDERS,...
  21. ^ "RHINELANDER WILL CONTEST. Son Who Was Disinherited After Share of the $50,000,000" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1908. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  22. ^ "W.C. RHINELANDER CUT OFF BY MOTHER Will Gives $1,000 to Eldest Son from $2,000,000 Estate, Which Goes to His Brothers" (PDF). The New York Times. February 28, 1914. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  23. ^ Army-Navy-Air Force Register and Defense Times. 1919. p. 157. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  24. ^ Taylor, Robert R. (2009). The Castles of the Rhine: Recreating the Middle Ages in Modern Germany. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 9781554588015. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  25. ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  26. ^ Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 225. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  27. ^ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  28. ^ General Register of the Society of Colonial Wars. General Society of Colonial Wars (U.S.). 1911. p. 10. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  29. ^ Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of America. The Huguenot Society of America. 1904. p. 18. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  30. ^ a b "WEDDING OF MISS EDITH C. SANDS.; Married to T.J. Oakley Rhinelander in Trinity Chapel" (PDF). The New York Times. June 7, 1894. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  31. ^ a b "MRS. T.J.O. RHINELANDER; Member of Old New York Family Dies at Her Sister's Country Home" (PDF). The New York Times. August 6, 1923. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  32. ^ Smith-Pryor, Elizabeth M. (2009). Property Rites: The Rhinelander Trial, Passing, and the Protection of Whiteness. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 122. ISBN 9780807894170. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  33. ^ Register of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York. The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York. 1901. p. 53. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  34. ^ "Philip Rhinelander 2d Dies; Owned Real Estate Firm" (PDF). The New York Times. June 26, 1973. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  35. ^ "MRS. RHINELANDER" (PDF). The New York Times. May 29, 1968. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  36. ^ "PHILIP RHINELANDER IS DIVORCED IN RENO; Former Wife to Take a Month's Trip in California With Her Mother, Mrs. Parsons" (PDF). The New York Times. March 24, 1935. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  37. ^ "P. RHINELANDER 2D WEDS MRS. STUART; Ceremony in Park Av. Home of Bride Comes as a Surprise to Society Here" (PDF). The New York Times. March 28, 1935. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  38. ^ "All That Glitters at a Tiffany Party" (PDF). The New York Times. December 6, 1978. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  39. ^ Columbia, David Patrick (22 October 2012). "Woodland weekend refuge". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  40. ^ "Bill and Kitty McKnight". www.newyorksocialdiary.com. New York Social Diary. 22 February 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  41. ^ Pace, Eric (January 4, 1983). "William McKnight, Financier Sat On Many Company Boards". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  42. ^ "Thomas Rhinelander, Real-Estate Broker, 69". The New York Times. December 5, 1989. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

External links edit

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