Stephen Satterly L'Hommedieu (January 5, 1806 – May 25, 1875) was an American publisher and railroad executive and who served as president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad Company.

Early life

L'Hommedieu was born on January 5, 1806, in Sag Harbor, New York. He was a son of Charles L'Hommedieu (1778–1813) and Sarah B. ( Satterly) L'Hommedieu (1778–1837), who moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, in 1810. His elder brother was Samuel L'Hommedieu and his younger sister was Maria Marguerite L'Hommedieu, who married Jacob Long and, after his death in 1834, Orson Britton. His paternal grandparents were Sarah ( White) L'Hommedieu and Capt. Samuel L'Hommedieu, who served in the Second Regiment of New York Militia during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. His aunt, Mary L'Hommedieu was the wife of Rev. John D.

Gardiner Gardiner may refer to: Places Settlements ;Canada * Gardiner, Ontario ;United States * Gardiner, Maine * Gardiner, Montana * Gardiner (town), New York ** Gardiner (CDP), New York * Gardiner, Oregon * Gardiner, Washington * West Gardiner, Maine ...

, a

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduate who was pastor of the Sag Harbor Presbyterian Church. Stephen's grandfather Samuel was a nephew of

Ezra L'Hommedieu Ezra L'Hommedieu (August 30, 1734 – September 27, 1811) was an American lawyer and statesman from Southold, New York in Suffolk County, Long Island. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress (1779 to 1783) and again in 1788. ...

, the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

man from New York. The L'Hommedieu family were descended from Benjamin L'Hommedieu, a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

who was born in

La Rochelle, France La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With 7 ...

and emigrated to Southold, New York, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in 1690.

Career

At the age of 12, he was sent to learn business from his uncle John C. Avery, and by 1821 was in the office of the ''

Cincinnati Gazette The ''Cincinnati Commercial Tribune'' was a major daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 1896, and folded in 1930.(3 December 1930)OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN CINCINNATI QUITS; Commercial Tribune Stopped by McLean Interests After Political Shift in ...

'' of which he became a partner upon reaching the age of majority. He remained an owner and publisher of the paper until his retirement in 1848. In politics, he was a Whig and became a delegate to the Whig Convention at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1839 where General Taylor was nominated for the presidency instead of Henry Clay, who L'Hommedieu supported. L'Hommedieu was involved in the construction of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, which was chartered in 1846 with capital of $500,000 and was elected president of the road on July 3, 1848. The road struggled with right of way issues but eventually opened on September 22, 1851, and earned about $300,000 in its first year. In 1863, he added the

Dayton and Michigan Railroad Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

to the line and acquired a controlling interest in the Cincinnati, Richmond and Chicago Railroad, extending from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. He served as president for twenty-two years before retiring in 1871 after which he "took an extensive tour of the Old World, embracing Egypt and the Holy Land."

Personal life

In 1830, L'Hommedieu was married to Alma Hammond (1812–1890), a daughter of Sally ( Tillinghast) Hammond and Charles Hammond, associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Together, they were the parents of: * Tillinghast L'Hommedieu (1831–1863), a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

officer who was killed in battle at Pulaski, Tennessee. * Sallie S. L'Hommedieu (1833–1895), who married

Joseph Jermain Slocum Joseph Jermain Slocum (June 1833 – October 2, 1924) was an American colonel and businessman. Early life Slocum was born in June 1833 in Syracuse, New York. He was a son of Joseph Slocum (1795–1863), one of the pioneer settlers of Syracuse (he w ...

, brother of Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, in 1854. * Marie Antoinette L'Hommedieu (1836–1928), who married William Collins Reynolds (1837–1897), a son of James Lusk Reynolds, 1860. * Stephen Satterly L'Hommedieu Jr. (1842–1883), an Ohio State Congressman who married Florence Symmes (1840–1927), a granddaughter of

John Cleves Symmes Jr. Captain John Cleves Symmes Jr. (November 5, 1780 – May 28, 1829) was an American Army officer, trader, and lecturer. Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the Hollow Earth theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner wor ...

* Alma Hammond L'Hommedieu (1843–1921), who married Gen. George David Ruggles, in 1868. * Mary R. L'Hommedieu (1847–1895), who married Henry Brockholst Ledyard Jr., son of

Henry Ledyard Henry Brockholst Ledyard Sr. (March 5, 1812 – June 7, 1880) was the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, and a state senator, briefly served as assistant secretary under Secretary of State Lewis Cass, and was the president of the Newport Hospital a ...

, in 1867."Ledyard Given Quiet Funeral,"
''Detroit Free Press,'' May 28, 1921, pg. 11. * Charles Hammond L'Hommedieu (1848–1916) * Richard Henry L'Hommedieu (1850–1918), who married Angelina Catherwood Marston (1855–1944), a daughter of Thomas Marston, a woodenware merchant from Chicago. * Louis L'Hommedieu (1855–1919), who married Stella C. Edwards (1856–1923), a daughter of Abraham C. Edwards. In 1870, he commissioned

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

to create a portrait of his wife which was completed three years later, only a short time before Powers' death. L'Hommedieu died on May 25, 1875, in

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

, while visiting his grandson at the

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. His widow died in 1890.

References

Notes Sources

External links

L'Hommedieu, Stephen Satterlee 1806-1875
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Hommedieu, Stephen Satterly 1806 births 1875 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives 20th-century American railroad executives