Albert Carlton Bostwick Jr. (April 1, 1901 – September 26, 1980) was a member of the wealthy and prominent

Bostwick family The Bostwick family are descendants of Robert De Brostick, born in 1522 in England. A branch of the New York (state), New York Bostwick family rose to prominence when Jabez A. Bostwick, Jabez Abel Bostwick made a fortune in business and was a found ...

who became a

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

and a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse owner, breeder and trainer.

Early life

Albert Bostwick, known to his family as "Brother", was the eldest boy of five children born to Mary Lillian (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Stokes) Bostwick and Albert Carlton Bostwick Sr. Among his siblings was Dorothy Stokes Bostwick,

Lillian Bostwick Phipps Lillian Stokes Bostwick Phipps (July 9, 1906 – November 27, 1987) was an American socialite and owner of Thoroughbred steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase horse racing, racehorses. Early life Lillian Stokes Bostwick was born in New Yor ...

, Dunbar Bostwick, and

Pete Bostwick George Herbert "Pete" Bostwick (August 14, 1909 – January 13, 1982) was an American court tennis player, a steeplechase jockey and horse trainer, and an eight-goal polo player. Biography He was born in Bisby Lake, New York to Marie L. Stokes ...

. His father, a banker and sportsman, set early automobile speed records. After his death in 1911, his mother remarried in 1914 to Fitch Gilbert Jr., a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

graduate and farmer. His maternal grandfather, Henry Bolter Stokes, was president of the

Manhattan Life Insurance Company ManhattanLife (originally The Manhattan Life Insurance Company), is an American life insurance company domiciled in New York City, New York. It operates as a subsidiary of Manhattan Life Group in Houston, Texas. ManhattanLife is the brand name f ...

, and his paternal grandfather, Jabez Bostwick, was a founder and treasurer of the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

and a partner of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

. On the death of his father in 1911, Bostwick inherited a sizeable fortune. His grandmother, Helen Celia (née Ford) Bostwick, upon her death in April 1920, left to him a sum of $1,156,818.

Horse racing

Bostwick rode horses from a young age, taught by his uncle

F. Ambrose Clark Frederick Ambrose Clark (August 1, 1880 – February 26, 1964) was an American heir and Equestrianism, equestrian. Early life "Brose" Clark was born on August 1, 1880, in Cooperstown, New York. He was the third son of Alfred Corning Clark (1844 ...

, and became a successful amateur steeplechase rider in the United States and in England. He also became involved in the sport of

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

and is best known as the owner/breeder of

Mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection *** Mate choice in humans ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Pers ...

, winner of the 1931

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

. A member of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, among ...

, in 1932 he obtained a license to train horses. He was a member of the Union Club, the

Racquet and Tennis Club The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. History The Racquet Court Club was organized April 28 ...

, the Turf and Field Club, the Meadow Brook Club and the River Club.

Personal life

In 1936, Bostwick was married to Eleanor (née Purviance) Sage (1904–2004). Eleanor was the former wife of Henry Williams Sage (a descendant of

Henry W. Sage Henry Williams Sage (January 31, 1814 – September 18, 1897) was a wealthy New York State businessman, philanthropist, and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.Murray Edward PoolA story historical of Cornell University with biograp ...

) and was the daughter of John Nelson Purviance and Helen (née Morgan) Purviance. Before their divorce, they lived on the 15th floor of the

Rosario Candela Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the cit ...

designed 778 Park Avenue (the apartment, a floor below

Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer. She served as the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, who wa ...

's apartment, was later owned by

Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise ...

), and had one son together: * Albert Carlton Bostwick III (b. 1939), who in 1960 married socialite Mollie (née Netcher) Bragno (1923–2002), heiress to a Chicago department store fortune. The wedding, which took place at her home in Chicago, was performed by Judge

Julius Hoffman Julius Jennings Hoffman (July 7, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He presided over the Chicago Seven ...

and the best man was New York attorney

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn ( ; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–53) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel duri ...

. They divorced, and in 1970, she married for the third time to Paul C. Wilmot Jr. The Bostwick's had an estate in Old Westbury on the north shore of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. The estate featured an 1888

Georgian revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

manor house with 18 rooms that was updated by architect James O'Connor in the 1930s. After his widow's death in 2004, the estate was sold and subdivided. Bostwick died in 1980 at age 79 at his home in Old Westbury. His funeral was held at the Church of the Advent in Westbury.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bostwick, Albert C. Jr. 1901 births 1980 deaths American jockeys American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Preakness Stakes winners People from Manhattan Bostwick family New York (state) Republicans People from Old Westbury, New York