Nathaniel Platt Bailey (June 7, 1809 – October 12, 1891)
was an American merchant and philanthropist.
Early life
Bailey was born on June 7, 1809, at
Chateangay near
Plattsburgh, New York. He was the son of William Bailey (1763–1840) and his second wife, Phoebe (
née Platt) Bailey (1779–1859). His father's first wife was Hannah Hagaman, who died in 1798. Among his siblings was Phebe Altie Bailey, and
Theodorus Bailey, John William Bailey, and Mary Elizabeth Bailey.
His father was a pioneer settler and surveyor in
Clinton and
Franklin Counties who later became a Judge.
His paternal grandparents were Altje (née Van Wyck) Bailey and Col. John Bailey. His uncle was
Theodorus Bailey, a
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 ...
and
U.S. Senator from New York.
His maternal grandparents were Phebe (née Smith) Platt and Capt. Nathaniel Platt (brother of
Zephaniah Platt
Zephaniah Platt (May 27, 1735 – September 12, 1807) was an American politician and lawyer, and founder of the U.S. town of Plattsburgh, New York.
Early life
Platt was born in Huntington, Province of New York, to Zephaniah Platt (1705-1778). ...
and uncle to Judge
Jonas Platt
Jonas Platt (June 30, 1769 – February 22, 1834) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Early life
Platt was born on June 30, 1769, in Poughkeepsie, Province of New Yor ...
and New York State Treasurer
Charles Z. Platt
Charles Zephaniah Platt (July 22, 1773 – April 14, 1822) was an American politician.
Life
Platt was born on July 22, 1773, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was one of twelve children born to Mary Van Wyck Platt (1743–1809) and Zephaniah Platt ...
).
Career
In 1824, Bailey came to New York and entered into business as a merchant, retiring when he was thirty-five years old.
He was a Vestryman of
Trinity Church served as a senior Governor of
New York Hospital.
Bailey also owned in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, part of what is now called West Fordham (formerly the site of Fort No. 6 during the
Revolutionary War, extending from Fordham Road to
Kingsbridge Road and from Bailey Avenue to University Avenue.
There, Bailey built a large mansion that overlooked the
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland.
The northern stretch, also called the Spuyt ...
, and, reportedly, the
New Jersey Palisades
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...
to the west.
Upon his death, the estate was subdivided into streets and avenues and the bulk of the property became the grounds of the current
U.S. Veterans Medical Center.
Bailey was a member of the
Union League Club, the
Union Club, the
Century Club and the
Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York
The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York is a charitable organization in New York City of men who are descended from early inhabitants of the State of New York. Charles R. Mackenzie is the current president. The organization preserves ...
, for which he served one term as president the
26th President in 1884, succeeding
Abraham Riker Lawrence.
He previously served as third vice-president in 1879, second vice-president in 1880 to 1881, and first vice-president from 1882 to 1883.
Personal life
On July 26, 1836, Bailey was married to Eliza Meier Lorillard (1815–1900).
Eliza was a daughter of Jacob Lorillard Jr., a wealthy leather merchant, and a granddaughter of Jacob Lorillard (son of
Pierre Abraham Lorillard
Pierre Abraham Lorillard (1742 – 1776) was a French-American tobacconist who founded the business which developed into the Lorillard Tobacco Company, which claimed to be the oldest tobacco firm in the United States and in the world. His name is ...
, founder of the
Lorillard Tobacco Company
Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. The company had two operating segments: cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.
Th ...
). Her sister Emily Lorillard married
Lewis G. Morris.
Together, they were the parents of three children, including:
* Ann Mary Bailey (1837–1864), who married her second cousin, Theodorus Bailey Woolsey (1839–1907),
a grandson of
Theodorus Bailey.
* Lorillard Bailey (1839–1860), a twin who died aged 21, unmarried.
* James Muhlenberg Bailey (1839–1897), a twin who married Alletta Remsen Lynch (1870–1930),
a daughter of Edward Livingston Lynch and a descendant of
Robert Livingston, first Lord of
Livingston Manor, and
Robert R. Livingston
Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", afte ...
of
Clermont.
Bailey died at his country residence in
Fordham Heights in New York City on October 12, 1891. After a funeral at Trinity Chapel on
West 25th Street, he was buried alongside his family in the
Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
.
[New York Surrogate's Court Book of Wills 31 December 1891. Liber 466, Page 64.] In 1899, his Bronx estate was sold to the
Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...
for $290,000 (equivalent to $ today) and was used to operate the Roman Catholic
Orphan Asylum
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...
.
Descendants and legacy
Through his son James, he was a grandfather of Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Bailey (1883–1935),
an amateur architectural historian and photographer,
who married
Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (1882–1967)
in 1908.
After Alletta's death, Morris remarried to
Anita de Braganza, widow of
Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu.
Bailey is the namesake of a playground known as Bailey Playground and bounding Bailey Avenue in
Kingsbridge, Bronx
Kingsbridge is a residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx, New York City. Kingsbridge's boundaries are Manhattan College Parkway to the north, the Major Deegan Expressway or Bailey Avenue to the east, West 230th Street to th ...
.
References
External links
Portrait of Nathaniel Platt Baileyby
Henry Inman, , at 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 ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Nathaniel Platt
1809 births
1891 deaths
American philanthropists
Lorillard family
Fordham, Bronx
Presidents of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York