Isaac Quentin Carow (March 29, 1778 - September 3, 1850) was an American banker and merchant. He was the father of

Charles Carow Charles Carow (October 4, 1825 – March 18, 1883) was an American merchant and shipowner who was the father of first lady of the United States Edith Carow Roosevelt. Early life Carow was born on October 4, 1825. He was the youngest, and only surv ...

, grandfather of former first lady

Edith Carow Roosevelt Edith Kermit Roosevelt ( née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the First Lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909. She also was the Second Lady of the United States in 1901 ...

and grandfather-in-law of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Early life

Carow was born on March 29, 1778, in

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. He was the son of merchant Isaac Carow and Ann (née Cooper) Carow. His paternal grandfather was Josué Quereau, a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

who immigrated from France to New York before 1721 and married Judith Quantin in 1721.

Career

In 1793, Carow moved to New York to obtain an academic education. He partnered with

Robert Kermit Robert Kermit (September 4, 1794 in New York City – March 13, 1855 in New York City) was an American shipowner and owner of the Red Star Line (also called the Kermit Line). Early life Kermit was the son of Captain Henry Kermit and Elizabeth ...

to form the shipping line known as Kermit & Carow which made him a large fortune. In New York, he became a warden of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, a governor of

New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as New York Hospital or Old New York Hospital or City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the teaching hospital for Cornell University. ...

, a member of the

New York Bible Society Biblica, formerly International Bible Society, was founded in 1809 and is the worldwide copyright holder of the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), licensing commercial rights to Zondervan in the United States and to Hodder & Stoughton ...

(serving as vice president), and a promoter of the

New York Society Library The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library. During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de ...

. He was one of the fifteen members of the Committee of arrangements for the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

celebration. He served as president of the

Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...

from 1840 to 1842, and was an original incorporator and director of the Bank of Commerce in New York.

Personal life

On June 30, 1803, Carow was married to his cousin, Eliza Mowatt (1783–1837). Together, they lived at 25 St Marks Place in a

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

townhouse built in 1831, and were the parents of eight children, including: * Ann Eliza Carow (1804–1879), who married

, owner of the

Red Star Line The Red Star Line was a shipping line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgiu ...

, in 1832. * John Carow (b. 1805), who died young. * Jane Carow (1807–1830) * Julia Carow (1813–1867), who married Edward Fisher Sanderson (d. 1866), a steel manufacturer of Endcliffe Grange in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. * Mary Carow (1816–1864), who married James P. Thomas. *

(1825–1883), who married Gertrude Elizabeth Tyler, a daughter of Brig. Gen.

Daniel Tyler Daniel P. Tyler IV (January 7, 1799 – November 30, 1882) was an iron manufacturer, railroad president, and one of the first Union Army generals of the American Civil War. Early life Daniel P. Tyler IV was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut to D ...

. * Laura Frances Carow (1827–1872) In 1815 and 1827 he visited Europe, staying with the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

in France during the latter trip. In 1835, when the St. Nicholas Society was formed, Carow was one of 275 men invited to join. His wife Eliza died in May 1837. Carow died on September 3, 1850, in New York City. After his death and the payment of all bequests and legacies, he left an estate valued at $146,681.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Charles, he was a grandfather of Edith Kermit Carow (1861–1948), the second wife of President

and the

first lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

during his presidency; Emily Tyler Carow (1865–1939); and Kermit Carow (1860–1860), who died in infancy. Through his daughter Julia, he was a grandfather of Mary Sanderson (d. 1899), who married her second cousin Thomas Sanderson Furniss (and was the father of educationalist and socialist politician Henry Sanderson Furniss, 1st Baron Sanderson); Frances Ann Sanderson, who married

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

man

Samuel William Johnson Samuel William Johnson (3 July 1830 Kingsboro, New York – 1909) was a U.S. American agricultural chemist. He promoted the movement to bring the sciences to the aid of American farmers through agricultural experiment stations and education in ...

(a descendant of

William Samuel Johnson William Samuel Johnson (October 7, 1727 – November 14, 1819) was an American Founding Father and statesman. Before the Revolutionary War, he served as a militia lieutenant before being relieved following his rejection of his election to the Fir ...

); Helen Augusta Sanderson, who married Dr. Charles Elam; Laura Carow Sanderson, who married Camidge, and Thomas Sanderson.

References

External links

Portrait of Isaac Carow
by

Henry Peters Gray Henry Peters Gray (June 23, 1819 - November 12, 1897) was an American portrait and genre painter. Early life Born in New York City he was a pupil of Daniel Huntington in New York, and subsequently studied in Rome and Florence. Career Elected ...

, 1865,

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carow, Isaac 1778 births 1850 deaths American bankers American merchants American businesspeople in shipping Businesspeople from New York City 19th-century American businesspeople