Robert Maclay (1834–1898) was an American merchant, business executive, and civic activist. He engaged in real estate and banking in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was appointed to various posts having to do with urban development.

Biography

Robert Maclay was a graduate of Judson College, Mount Palatine, Illinois. He engaged in real estate and banking in

and was appointed to various posts having to do with urban development. Upon the death of his father-in-law, Alfred Barmore, he became president of

Knickerbocker Ice Company The Knickerbocker Ice Company was an ice company based in New York State during the 19th century. Early history Knickerbocker Ice Company, an Ice trade company, was founded by John J. Felter, John G. Perry, and Edward Felter in 1831 on the eastern ...

, the largest ice company in the country. On April 14, 1892, Maclay was appointed as member of the Rapid Transit Commission. From 1891 until his death in 1898, he served as Chairman of the Building Commission for the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. He presided as Chairman of the Building Commission when the American architect Charles B. J. Snyder was elected Superintendent of School Buildings in 1891. Maclay was a Director of

Bowery Savings Bank The Bowery Savings Bank was a bank in New York City, chartered in May 1834. By 1980, it had over 35 branches in the New York metropolitan area. In 1992, it was sold to H. F. Ahmanson & Co. for $200 million. The bank's first branch at 130 Bowe ...

and a trustee of the Northern Dispensary. He was a trustee of the

Madison Avenue Baptist Church The Madison Avenue Baptist Church is a Baptist church located in Manhattan, New York City. It is affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the American Baptist Churches USA, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and the Baptist P ...

and The Manhattan Club and was one of the incorporators of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. He was a member of

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. ...

, the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

, the

Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...

, the

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...

, the Downtown Association, the Brown Society of Glasgow, and the Advisory Committee of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Family

Robert Maclay was born in New York City June 11, 1834, to the marriage of Robert Haldane Maclay, MD, and Eliza Maclay (née Labatut). On May 18, 1868, he married Georgiana Barmore, daughter of Alfred Barmore, former president of the

. Robert and Georgiana had two children: * Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871–1944), the namesake of the

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park The Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens is a Florida State Park, botanical garden and historic site, located in Tallahassee, in northeastern Florida. The address is 3540 Thomasville Road. The gardens are also a U.S. historic district known as the K ...

in Florida. * Robert Maclay (born 1877). The younger Robert Maclay joined the board of the

Consolidated National Bank Consolidated National Bank of New York was a bank operating in New York City. Also referred to in the press as Consolidated National Bank, the institution was organized on July 1, 1902, with capital of $1 million. Wrote ''The New York Times'', t ...

on October 31, 1905. The elder Robert Maclay died in

Elberon, New Jersey Elberon is an unincorporated community that is part of Long Branch in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07740. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for ZIP ...

July 28, 1898. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclay, Robert 1834 births 1898 deaths Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) New York University people Ice trade 19th-century American businesspeople