Jedediah Hyde Lathrop (July 5, 1806 – November 23, 1889) was an American merchant.

Early life

Lathrop was born on July 5, 1806, in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Grafton County, New Hampshire Grafton County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,118. Its county seat is North Haverhill, a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices ...

. He was a younger son of Lois ( Huntington) Lathrop (1765–1846) and Samuel Lathrop (1756–1821), a soldier in the Revolutionary War. A descendant of the

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

John Lothropp Rev. John Lothropp (1584–1653) — sometimes spelled Lothrop or Lathrop — was an English Anglican clergyman, who became a Congregationalist minister and emigrant to New England. He was among the first settlers of Barnstable, Massachusett ...

, his paternal grandparents were Elisha Lathrop and Hannah ( Hough) Lathrop. His maternal grandparents were Theophelus Huntington and Lois ( Gifford) Huntington.

Career

In 1842, Lathrop was appointed by President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...

to succeed

George W. Clinton Hon. George William Clinton (April 21, 1807 – September 7, 1885) was a New York lawyer, politician, judge, author, and amateur naturalist. He served as Mayor of Buffalo, New York from 1842 to 1843. Early life and family Clinton was born on Ap ...

as the

Collector of the Port of Buffalo The Collector of Customs at the Port of Buffalo, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of Buffalo, sometimes referred to as Buffalo Creek, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that ...

, serving in that position until 1845. He acquired a sizable fortune through stock investments, as well as banking associated with the

Riggs Bank Riggs Bank was a bank headquartered in Washington, D.C. For most of its history, it was the largest bank headquartered in that city. On May 13, 2005, after the exposure of several money laundering scandals, the bank was acquired by PNC Financia ...

. Following the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

of 1871, he made several large investments in Chicago real estate that greatly increased his wealth. Lathrop and his wife were strong unionists, and, in the leadup to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, the family left

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

, to settle in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where his wife's brother,

Thomas Barbour Bryan Thomas Barbour Bryan (December 22, 1828 – January 26, 1906) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. Born in Virginia, a member of the prestigious Barbour family on his mother's side, Bryan largely made a name for himself in Chi ...

, had been living since 1852. They settled in the suburb of Cottage Hill, today's

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Native ...

,Funigiello p. 25 where they built their "Huntington" estate in 1864, adjacent to Bryan's "Eagles Nest".

Personal life

In 1843, Lathrop was married to Mary Ann Bryan (1820–1893), a daughter of Virginia State Senator Daniel Bryan and Mary Thomas ( Barbour) Bryan (the daughter of

Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour (August 19, 1884 – January 8, 1946) was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, ...

and sister to Gov.

James Barbour James Barbour (June 10, 1775 – June 7, 1842) was an American slave owner, lawyer, politician and planter. He served as a delegate from Orange County, Virginia in the Virginia General Assembly, and as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates ...

and U.S. Representative and Supreme Court Justice Philip P. Barbour). Her brother was philanthropist

. Together, they were the parents of: *

Bryan Lathrop Bryan Lathrop (August 6, 1844 – May 13, 1916) was an American businessman and art collector from Alexandria, Virginia, United States. He is known for his works in Chicago, Illinois, where his insurance and real estate dealings made him very we ...

(1844–1916), a real estate developer who married Helen Lynde Aldis, daughter of Asa Owen Aldis, in 1875. * Barbour Thomas Lathrop (1847–1927) * Caroline Huntington Lathrop (1853–1854), who died young. * Minna Byrd Lathrop (1857–1877), who died unmarried. * Florence Wentworth Lathrop (1858–1921), who married Henry Field, younger brother of

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and customer ...

, in 1879. After his death in 1890, she married

Thomas Nelson Page Thomas Nelson Page (April 23, 1853 – November 1, 1922) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Italy from 1913 to 1919 under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In his ...

, the U.S. Ambassador to Italy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1893. Lathrop died on November 23, 1889, in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathrop, Jedediah Hyde 1806 births 1889 deaths People from Lebanon, New Hampshire Collectors of the Port of Buffalo