Gabriel Mead Tooker (December 12, 1839 – December 11, 1905) was an American lawyer and clubman who was prominent in New York Society during the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

Early life

Tooker was born on December 12, 1839, in New York City. He was the third of seven children born to John F. Tooker (1807–1849) and Mary A. (

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 ...

Mead) Tooker (b. 1811), who married in 1835. His maternal grandfather was William Mead of

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

. He was the uncle of Annie

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Tooker Best, wife of Elizur Yale Smith of the

Yale family Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, and were prominent in New York and Newport society. Her husband was the son of Wellington Smith, one of the world's largest paper manufacturer at the time, and was proprietor of a horsing estate that was later sold to

William Douglas Sloane William Douglas Sloane (February 29, 1844 – March 19, 1915) was an American businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and member of New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Sloane was born in New York City on February 29, 1844. He was t ...

. Annie was a protegee of

Mrs. Astor Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century who led the The Four Hundred (1892), Four Hundred. Famous for being referred to later ...

and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish. She had Gladys Vanderbilt of the Breakers and Countess Beroldingen at her

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...

party in New York, and was personally invited to Mrs. Astor gala at the Beechwood Estate. She was also announced by her son,

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinki ...

, who later perished on the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

, and was a member of The Four Hundred during the

, along with her cousin

Charlotte Tooker Warren Whitney Warren (January 29, 1864 – January 24, 1943) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who founded, with Charles Delevan Wetmore, Warren and Wetmore in New York City, one of the most prolific and successful architectural practices in the U ...

. Tooker graduated with an A.M. degree from Columbia College in 1859 and a

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1861.

Career

Tooker's family was prominent as merchants in New York City with the firm Tooker, Mead & Company. The firm had been run by his parents families. Tooker was a lawyer, with an office at 23 Nassau Street in

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

, who was also known as a successful investor.

Society life

In 1892, the widower Tooker was included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of late 19th-century America. He was widely accepted as the authority as to which families could be classified as the cream o ...

's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties 400 is the square of 20. 400 is the sum of the powers of 7 from 0 to 3, thus making it a repdigit in base 7 (1111). A circle is divided into ...

", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into

's ballroom. He was a member of the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

, and an active member of the

Reading Room Reading room may refer to: * Reference library * British Museum Reading Room * Christian Science Reading Room image:5054_christian-science-reading-room-e.jpg, 400px, A typical storefront Christian Science Reading Room on the main street of a subu ...

, a gentlemen's club in Newport. The Tookers owned one of the finest homes in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, referred to as the "Tooker villa", at Kay and

Bellevue Avenue The Bellevue Avenue Historic District is located along and around Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the Gilded Age mansions built by affluent summer vaca ...

, and took part in prominent society there. In 1895, following the marriage of his youngest daughter Emily, Tooker gifts the house, including all its furnishings, chandeliers, and draperies, to his children, who promptly divided the contents and sold the home. His elder daughter was considered the "beauty of the family" and his younger daughter Emily, who was "not in the least bit pretty," was reportedly engaged to A. Lanfear Norrie.

Personal life

On December 2, 1862, Tooker was married to Margaret Augusta Peckham (1843–1888), the daughter of Dr. Walton Hazard Peckham and Margaret (née Milderburger) Stuyvesant Peckham. Margaret was the first cousin of

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

George William Peckham and

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...

Rufus Wheeler Peckham Rufus W. Peckham (November 8, 1838 – October 24, 1909) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1895 to 1909, and is the most recent Democratic nominee approved by a Republican-majorit ...

and niece of

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Rufus W. Peckham Rufus W. Peckham (November 8, 1838 – October 24, 1909) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1895 to 1909, and is the mo ...

and

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Wheeler H. Peckham, all descendants of

George Hazard George Hazard (9 October 1700 - 1738) was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Life George Hazard was the son of George and Penelope (Arnold) Hazard of South Kingstown in the Rhode Island colony. His gr ...

, a Governor of the

Colony of Rhode Island The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until ...

. The Tookers New York residence was at 675

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Charlotte Augusta Tooker (1864–1951), who married architect

Whitney Warren Whitney Warren (January 29, 1864 – January 24, 1943) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who founded, with Charles Delevan Wetmore, Warren and Wetmore in New York City, one of the most prolific and successful architectural practices in the U ...

(1864–1943) of

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...

, in 1884. * John Stansbury "Jack" Tooker (b. 1866), an 1890

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 ...

graduate who married Maud Somerville Jaffray (1871–1947) in 1903. * Emily Montague Tooker (1872–1903), who married J. Wadsworth Ritchie (1861–1924), son of

Cornelia Adair Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair (April 6, 1837 – September 22, 1921) was a Texas ranch landowner. Early life Born Cornelia Wadsworth on April, 6, 1837, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was one of six children of James S. Wadsworth and Mary ...

and grandson of General

James S. Wadsworth James Samuel Wadsworth (October 30, 1807 – May 8, 1864) was a philanthropist, politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded in battle during the Battle of the Wilderness of 1864. Early years Wadswor ...

, in 1895. His wife died in

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

, on February 4, 1888. Tooker died on December 11, 1905, at

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, after having lived abroad for twenty years. He was buried alongside his wife in Rome, however, a memorial was place at

Island Cemetery The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair ...

Descendants

Through his daughter Charlotte, he was the grandfather of Charlotte Augusta Warren (1885–1957), who married William Greenough, and Whitney Warren Jr. (1898–1986), who was a

horticulturalist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and patron of the arts. Warren Jr. was referred to as "an overly rich bachelor operating in San Francisco" who traveled around the world.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tooker, Gabriel Mead 1839 births 1905 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City People from Turtle Bay, Manhattan