Albert Carlton Bostwick Jr. (April 1, 1901 – September 26, 1980) was a member of the wealthy and prominent

Bostwick family The Bostwick family are descendants of Robert De Brostick, born in 1522 in England. A branch of the New York (state), New York Bostwick family rose to prominence when Jabez A. Bostwick, Jabez Abel Bostwick made a fortune in business and was a found ...

who became a

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

and a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse owner, breeder and trainer.

Early life

Albert Bostwick, known to his family as "Brother", was the eldest boy of five children born to Mary Lillian (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Stokes) Bostwick and Albert Carlton Bostwick Sr. Among his siblings was Dorothy Stokes Bostwick, Lillian Bostwick Phipps, Dunbar Bostwick, and

Pete Bostwick George Herbert "Pete" Bostwick (August 14, 1909 – January 13, 1982) was an American court tennis player, a steeplechase jockey and horse trainer, and an eight-goal polo player. Biography He was born in Bisby Lake, New York to Marie L. Stokes a ...

. His father, a banker and sportsman, set early automobile speed records. After his death in 1911, his mother remarried in 1914 to Fitch Gilbert Jr., a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

graduate and farmer. His maternal grandfather, Henry Bolter Stokes, was president of the

Manhattan Life Insurance Company ManhattanLife began as The Manhattan Life Insurance Company, a life insurance company domiciled in New York. It operates as a subsidiary of Manhattan Life Group in Houston, Texas. ManhattanLife is the brand name for plans, products, and services ...

, and his paternal grandfather, Jabez Bostwick, was a founder and treasurer of the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

and a partner of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

. On the death of his father in 1911, Bostwick inherited a sizeable fortune. His grandmother, Helen Celia (née Ford) Bostwick, upon her death in April 1920, left to him a sum of $1,156,818.

Horse racing

Bostwick rode horses from a young age, taught by his uncle F. Ambrose Clark, and became a successful amateur steeplechase rider in the United States and in England. He also became involved in the sport of

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

and is best known as the owner/breeder of

Mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

, winner of the 1931

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

. A member of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...

, in 1932 he obtained a license to train horses. He was a member of the Union Club, the

Racquet and Tennis Club The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. History The Racquet Court Club opened in 1876 at 55 We ...

, the Turf and Field Club, the Meadow Brook Club and the River Club.

Personal life

In 1936, Bostwick was married to Eleanor (née Purviance) Sage (1904–2004). Eleanor was the former wife of Henry Williams Sage (a descendant of Henry W. Sage) and was the daughter of John Nelson Purviance and Helen (née Morgan) Purviance. Before their divorce, they lived on the 15th floor of the

Rosario Candela Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the ci ...

designed 778 Park Avenue (the apartment, a floor below

Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Ja ...

's apartment, was later owned by

Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise t ...

), and had one son together: * Albert Carlton Bostwick III (b. 1939), who in 1960 married socialite Mollie (née Netcher) Bragno (1923–2002), heiress to a Chicago department store fortune. The wedding, which took place at her home in Chicago, was performed by Judge Julius Hoffman and the best man was New York attorney Roy Cohn. They divorced, and in 1970, she married for the third time to Paul C. Wilmot Jr. The Bostwick's had an estate in

Old Westbury Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury i ...

on the north shore of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. The estate featured an 1888

Georgian revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

manor house with 18 rooms that was updated by architect James O'Connor in the 1930s. After his widow's death in 2004, the estate was sold and subdivided. Bostwick died in 1980 at age 79 at his home in Old Westbury. His funeral was held at the Church of the Advent in Westbury.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bostwick, Albert C. Jr. 1901 births 1980 deaths American jockeys American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Preakness Stakes winners People from Manhattan Bostwick family New York (state) Republicans People from Old Westbury, New York