Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr. (August 12, 1866 – January 15, 1948) was an American

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

lawyer and stockbroker. He was the father of John Vernou Bouvier III as well as a grandfather of First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

, socialite Lee Radziwill, and Edith Bouvier Beale.

Early life

Bouvier was born on August 12, 1866 in Torresdale, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Captain John Vernou Bouvier (1843-1926) and Caroline Maslin (née Ewing) Bouvier (1844-1929). His father was a U.S. Civil War veteran who served as aide-de-camp on the staff of General

Marsena R. Patrick Marsena Rudolph Patrick (March 15, 1811 – July 27, 1888) was a college president and an officer in the United States Army, serving as a general in the Union Army, Union volunteer forces during the American Civil War. He was the provost marshal fo ...

and was one of the earliest members of the New York Stock Exchange. Bouvier's grandparents were Louise Clifford (née Vernou) Bouvier (1811-1872), of Philadelphia, the second wife of Michel Charles Bouvier (1792-1874), a French cabinetmaker from Pont-Saint-Esprit in southern France who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1815 after having served in the Napoleonic Wars. In addition to crafting fine furniture, Bouvier had a business distributing firewood which led to his acquisition of nearly 800,000 acres of forest, some of which turned out to contain large reserves of coal. Michel further grew his fortune in real estate speculation. John's father and uncles, Eustes and Michel Charles Bouvier Jr., distinguished themselves in the world of finance on

. As the only remaining male Bouvier heir, John Jr. inherited the Bouvier fortune from his father and uncles. His early education was from private tutors in the United States and in France, then he attended the Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in New York City. He graduated with an A.B. degree from Columbia University in 1886 as the president of his class. The following year, he received an A.M. degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, followed by an LL.B. degree from the Columbia Law School in 1889.

Career

On June 28, 1888, Bouvier was admitted to the bar in New York and began working with the Hoadley, Lauterbach & Johnson firm. During World War I, he was commissioned a major in the Judge Advocate General's Department of the Army, the legal arm of the United States Army. After the war, he resumed the practice of law, with various firms, including Bouvier & Beale at

165 Broadway The City Investing Building, also known as the Broadway–Cortlandt Building and the Benenson Building, was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York. Serving as the headquarters of the City Investing Company, it was on C ...

with his son-in-law Phelan Beale, until his retirement in 1930. Bouvier, who also held a seat on the Exchange, kept a diary and wrote on October 29, 1929, also known as "Black Tuesday" of the

1929 crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, "XXXX Blackest Panic Day of All. Record 16,410,000 shares traded. No bids at last prices. No bids--no bids". By the end of the crash, Bouvier had lost half of the $250,000 (equivalent to $ today) inheritance he received from his parents nine months before the crash. His retirement was short-lived because a year later he joined his uncle's firm, M.C. Bouvier & Co., members of the New York Stock Exchange, as a general partner. His uncle wisely unloaded most of his common stock positions before the 1929 crash, thereby preserving much of his $7,000,000 wealth (equivalent to $ today). Upon his uncle's death in 1935, the firm was dissolved. Bouvier worked as an trial attorney for 40 years, specializing in contracts, testamentary law, torts, securities, and stock exchanges. He served as general counsel for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, the Travelers Insurance Company, the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and the Metropolitan Street Railway Company.

Personal life

On April 16, 1890, Bouvier was married to Brearley School graduate Maude Frances Sergeant (1869–1940). She was the daughter of British born merchant William Roberts Sergeant and Edith Matilda (née Leaman) Sergeant. Together, they lived at Woodcroft, an estate in

Nutley, New Jersey Nutley is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 30,143. What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an act of the New Jersey Legisla ...

built in 1895, and, later, at 521 Park Avenue in New York, and were the parents of five children: * John Vernou Bouvier III (1891–1957), who married

Janet Norton Lee Janet Norton Lee Auchincloss, previously Bouvier, (December 3, 1907 – July 22, 1989) was an American socialite. She was the mother of the former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Lee Radziwill. Early life Janet Norton Lee was born on December ...

, daughter of real estate developer

James T. Lee James Thomas Aloysius Lee (October 2, 1877 – January 3, 1968) was an American lawyer, banker, and real estate investor who was the maternal grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill. Early life Lee was born in Manhattan on O ...

, in 1928. They divorced in Reno, Nevada in July 1940. * William Sergeant "Bud" Bouvier (1893–1929), a 1915 Yale graduate who died in Los Olivos, California. * Edith Ewing Bouvier (1895–1977), who married Phelan Beale Sr. in 1917. They separated in 1931 and he obtained a "

Mexican divorce In the mid-20th century, some Americans traveled to Mexico to obtain a "Mexican divorce". A divorce in Mexico was easier, quicker, and less expensive than a divorce in most U.S. states, which then only allowed at-fault divorces requiring extensi ...

" in 1946. * Michelle Caroline Bouvier (1905–1987), a twin of Maude. She married Henry Clarkson Scott in 1926. They divorced in 1939 and she remarried to Harrington Putnam Jr. (1906–1978) in 1946. In 1955, they also divorced. * Maude Reppelin Bouvier (1905–1999), a twin of Michelle. She was married to stockbroker John Ethelbert Davis (1900–1966), a half-brother of Flora Curzon, Lady Howe. Around 1910, Bouvier bought a home on Long Island, known as Wildmoor on Apaquogue Road in the Georgica Pond section of East Hampton. In 1925, his wife bought the much larger estate, known as Lasata, which was built for George Schurman in 1917. The home was two blocks from the ocean and three from the Maidstone Club, where he was a member in 1926. He entertained many friends, including Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler, Judge Samuel Seabury among others, on a grand scale in East Hampton and was well known in society there. He was a member of the Maryland Society of Cincinnati (admitted in 1918), the Sons of the Revolution (of which he was General-President for two terms), and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served on the boards of the New York Foundling Hospital and the New-York Historical Society and was a member of the Union Club of the City of New York for over 50 years. His wife died at their home, 765 Park Avenue in Manhattan, in April 1940, a few weeks before their 50th wedding anniversary. Bouvier died at the same home almost eight years later on January 15, 1948. He was buried at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton.

Descendants

Through his eldest son John, he was the grandfather of

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 ...

(who married John F. Kennedy in 1953 and Aristotle Onassis in 1968) and socialite Lee Radziwill, who married Prince

Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł Stanisław Albrecht "Stash" Radziwiłł (21 July 1914 – 27 July 1976) was a Polish diplomat, chargé d'affaires of the Polish government in exile at the League of Nations, delegate of the Polish Red Cross, real estate dealer, director o ...

. Through his daughter Edith, he was the grandfather of Edith Bouvier Beale,

Phelan Beale, Jr. Phelan Beale Jr. (June 16, 1920 – June 26, 1993) was an American journalist and unemployment compensation law expert. He was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale whose lives were highlighted in the documentary ...

, and Bouvier Beale. Through his daughter Maude, he was the grandfather of author John Hagy Davis.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* *
The Bouviers: From Waterloo to the Kennedys and Beyond
', by John H. Davis, National Press Books, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouvier, John Vernou 02 1866 births 1948 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers United States Army personnel of World War I American Roman Catholics Bouvier family Burials at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School alumni Columbia Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City Lawyers from Philadelphia Military personnel from New York City Military personnel from Philadelphia New York Stock Exchange people People from East Hampton (town), New York People from Nutley, New Jersey People from the Upper East Side