John Gardner Coolidge (July 4, 1863 – February 28, 1936) was an American collector, diplomat, author, and nephew of

Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual cur ...

Early life

Coolidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 4, 1863. He was the second of five sons born to

Harvard University Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

graduate Joseph Randolph Coolidge and Julia (

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 ...

Gardner) Coolidge, both from prominent and wealthy

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonis ...

families. His siblings included professor and diplomat

Archibald Cary Coolidge Archibald Cary Coolidge (March 6, 1866 – January 14, 1928) was an American educator and diplomat. He was a professor of history at Harvard College from 1908 and the first director of the Harvard University Library from 1910 until his death. Co ...

, noted lawyer

Harold Jefferson Coolidge Sr. Harold Jefferson Coolidge (January 22, 1870 – July 31, 1934)Lawrence, Robert Means: The Descendants of Major Samuel Lawrence', Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA, 1904, p. 208. URL last accessed 2012-11-15.N.N.: Harold Jefferson Coolidge'. ...

(the father of

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Harold Jefferson Coolidge Jr.), architect J. Randolph Coolidge Jr. and mathematician and professor

Julian Lowell Coolidge Julian Lowell Coolidge (September 28, 1873 – March 5, 1954) was an American mathematician, historian and a professor and chairman of the Harvard University Mathematics Department. Biography Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, he graduated from Ha ...

.Harvard University Archives, call no. HUG-1299:
Coolidge, Archibald Cary, 1866-1928. Papers of Archibald Cary Coolidge : an inventory
'', with a biography. URL retrieved 2011-01-11. His paternal uncle was Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, the Boston businessman and

U.S. Minister to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

. His father, Joseph Randolph Coolidge, was a great-grandson of the 3rd United States President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, through his maternal greatgrandparents,

Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (October 1, 1768 – June 20, 1828) was an American planter, soldier, and politician from Virginia. He served as a member of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, a representative in the United States Congress, a ...

and

Martha Jefferson Randolph Martha "Patsy" Randolph ( ''née'' Jefferson; September 27, 1772 – October 10, 1836) was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She was born at Monticel ...

. John's great-uncles were

Thomas Jefferson Randolph Thomas Jefferson Randolph (September 12, 1792 – October 7, 1875) of Albemarle County was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, an ...

George Wythe Randolph George Wythe Randolph (March 10, 1818 – April 3, 1867) was a Virginia lawyer, planter, politician and Confederate general. After representing the City of Richmond during the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861, during eight months in 1 ...

, and his grandfather,

Joseph Coolidge Joseph Coolidge (1798–1879), who married Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph, was a partner of several trading companies, working most of his career overseas in the opium, silk, porcelain, and tea trades. He watched over his ...

, was a distant relative of 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 ...

. Through his mother, John was the nephew of

John Lowell Gardner II John Lowell "Jack" Gardner Jr. (November 26, 1837 – December 10, 1898) was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He and his wife, Isabella Stewart Gardner, were patrons of the arts whose collection is now housed in the Isab ...

and his wife

. His mother and uncle John were the grandchildren of merchant

Joseph Peabody Joseph Peabody (December 9, 1757 – January 5, 1844) was a merchant and shipowner who dominated trade between Massachusetts and the Far East for a number of years. Family and career He was descended from Francis Peabody of St. Albans, England, ...

, one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844.

Career

In 1884, Coolidge, like all of his brothers, 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 ...

. In 1887, he traveled to east for a total of three years, living in Japan and traveling to China, India, Thailand and Malaysia. From 1890 to 1894, he lived in Brazil where he was a first hand witness to a period of vast political developments and a six-month fight between the Brazilian Army and Navy in the Bay of Rio. From 1902 to 1906, he was a member of the Peking legation. Coolidge was appointed Minister to

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in 1908, at a time the relationship between the United States and Nicaragua was poor, and he arrived in

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

in August. He resigned in anger when no apology was forthcoming after a demonstration, ostensibly celebrating Taft's victory in the election, was disbanded and a U.S. flag confiscated in the process, despite an effort on the part of the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

to calm him down.

Personal life

On April 29, 1909, Coolidge was married to Helen Granger Stevens (1876–1962), a family friend and the daughter of Henry James Stevens and Helen Meade Granger. Their summer home, Ashdale Farm, in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

, now known as The Stevens-Coolidge Place, is a nonprofit museum today. The couple hired architect

Joseph Everett Chandler Joseph Everett Chandler (December 11, 1863 – August 19, 1945) was an American architect. He is considered a major proponent of the Colonial Revival architecture. Biography Joseph Everett Chandler was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son o ...

to remodel the estate's homes. Coolidge died on February 28, 1936, in Boston, Massachusetts and was buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Works

* *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, John Gardner 1863 births 1936 deaths American male writers American collectors Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua Massachusetts Republicans Harvard College alumni