Peter Augustus Jay (August 23, 1877 – October 18, 1933) was an American diplomat who served as U.S. General Consul to Egypt, U.S. Minister to El Salvador and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

U.S. Ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revolution ...

Early life

Jay was born on August 23, 1877 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, ...

. He was the son of Augustus Jay (1850–1919) and Emily Astor (

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 ...

Kane) Jay (1854–1932). His younger brother was DeLancey Kane Jay (1881–1941). His paternal grandparents were Josephine (née Pearson) Jay and Peter Augustus Jay, himself the son of Peter Augustus Jay, a member of the

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 ...

and

Recorder of New York City The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...

, and grandson of

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and first United States Chief Justice. His maternal grandparents were DeLancey Kane and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon) Kane. His maternal uncles included

DeLancey Astor Kane DeLancey Astor Kane (August 28, 1844 – April 4, 1915) was an American soldier and horseman who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age. He was called the "father of coaching in the United States." Early life Kane was born on Au ...

, Commodore

S. Nicholson Kane Samuel Nicholson Kane (July 2, 1846 – November 15, 1906) was an American soldier and sailor prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age who served as the Commodore of New York Yacht Club. Early life Kane was born on July 2, 1846 in New ...

, and

Rough Rider The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

Woodbury Kane Woodbury Kane (February 8, 1859 – December 5, 1905) was a noted yachtsman and bon vivant, and member of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. A director of the Metropolitan Register Company, Kane served aboard the ''Columbia'' in the 1899 America' ...

, all cousins of

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 ...

. In 1880, Jay was painted by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

. Jay studied at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in England and graduated from

Harvard University 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 ...

with an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1900.

Career

In 1902, he began a career with the U.S. Foreign Service as the third secretary of the American embassy in Paris followed by service in Constantinople as second secretary. He was later promoted to secretary and when the legation was changed to an embassy, he continued as secretary until June 1907 when he became

Chargé d'Affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

in Tokyo on July 7, 1908 where he received full powers to "exchange ratifications for the protection of inventions, designs trademarks and copyrights." He served in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

until December 21, 1909 when he was appointed by President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

as Consul General to Egypt in Cairo. He presented his credentials on November 28, 1910 and left his post on October 8, 1913. On May 4, 1920, Jay was appointed U.S. Minister to El Salvador by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, serving from February 10, 1921 until April 28, 1921. After being appointed on April 18, 1921 by President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

, he served from June 30, 1921 to May 9, 1925 as U.S. Minister to Romania, where he assisted in negotiating that country's repayment terms of $42,000,0000 for wartime and post

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 ...

development loans. On March 18, 1925, he was appointed

by President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

. He presented his credentials on September 24, 1925 and was present on May 16, 1926 when a bomb exploded at the door to the US embassy, an action that might have been a protest of the guilty verdicts in the

Sacco and Vanzetti Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrant anarchists who were controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a ...

trials.

Later life

While serving in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, his elder daughter Emily died following sleeping sickness and an operation for appendicitis. Two days later, on December 30, 1926, he resigned his post and returned to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1928, he was appointed the American member of the Permanent International Commission established under the treaty between the United States and Spain on September 15, 1914.

Personal life

On March 16, 1909, Jay was married to Susan Alexander McCook, the daughter of Civil War officer and prominent attorney

John James McCook John James McCook (February 21, 1806 – October 11, 1865), was a patriarch of the Fighting McCooks, one of the most prolific families in United States Army history. Five of his sons became prominent soldiers, chaplains, or sailors, as well as ei ...

and granddaughter of

Daniel McCook Daniel McCook (June 20, 1798 – July 21, 1863) was an attorney and an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was one of two Ohio brothers who, along with 13 of their sons, became widely known as the “Fighting McCooks ...

of the "

Fighting McCooks The Fighting McCooks were members of a family of Ohioans who reached prominence as officers in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Two brothers, Daniel and John McCook, and thirteen of their sons were involved in the army, making the fami ...

". Together, they were the parents of Emily Kane Jay (1911–1926) and

Susan Mary Alsop Susan Mary Alsop (June 19, 1918 – August 18, 2004) was an American writer and socialite active in Washington, D.C. political circles. She was the wife of columnist Joseph Alsop and a descendant of founding father John Jay. Her Georgetown (Washi ...

(1918–2004). He was a member of the

Metropolitan Club of Washington Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

, the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in th ...

, the

Harvard Club of New York The Harvard Club of New York City, commonly called The Harvard Club, is a private social club located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Its membership is limited to alumni, faculty, and boardmembers of Harvard University. Incorporated in 1 ...

and the Racquet and Tennis Club of New York. They Jays also owned a home in the

State of Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

. Jay died at his home, 1815

Q Street A street name is an identifying name given to a street or road. In toponymic terminology, names of streets and roads are referred to as hodonyms (from Greek ‘road’, and ‘name’). The street name usually forms part of the address (t ...

on October 18, 1933.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Peter Augustus 1877 births 1933 deaths People educated at Eton College Harvard University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt Ambassadors of the United States to El Salvador Ambassadors of the United States to Romania Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina United States Foreign Service personnel Jay family 20th-century American diplomats People from Newport, Rhode Island People from Washington, D.C.