Perry Belmont (December 28, 1851 – May 25, 1947) was an American politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He served four terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

from 1881 to 1888.

Early life and education

Belmont was born on December 28, 1851, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, the son of Caroline Slidell (née Perry) and

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was ...

. His maternal grandfather was Commodore

Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the ...

. His brothers were

Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (November 12, 1858 – June 10, 1908) was an American banker, socialite, and politician who served one term as a United States Representative from New York from 1901 to 1903. Belmont was a member of the banking firm o ...

and

August Belmont Jr. August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which ran ...

He attended Everest Military Academy in

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census. History The peaceful tribe of Quinnipiacs were the first residents of the ...

; and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

in 1872; attended the law school in the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

; and graduated from the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked ...

in 1876. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

that same year.

Ancestry and memberships

Through his mother he was a descendant of Captain

Christopher Raymond Perry Christopher Raymond Perry (December 4, 1761 – June 1, 1818) was an officer in the United States Navy who was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Washington County, Rhode Island, in 1780 and served until 1791. He was th ...

who had served as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

during the American Revolution. By virtue of his descent from Captain Perry, Belmont was a member of the Rhode Island Society of the

Sons of the Revolution Sons of the Revolution is a hereditary society which was founded in 1876 and educates the public about the American Revolution. The General Society Sons of the Revolution headquarters is a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation located at Willia ...

. In 1929 he was elected an honorary member of the Rhode Island

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. He was also a member of the Veteran Corps of Artillery.

Career

Belmont practiced

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

for five years. Partnered with him in the law firm, Vinton, Belmont & Frelinghuysen, were his cousin, the writer

Arthur Dudley Vinton Arthur Dudley Vinton (December 23, 1852 – September 12, 1906) was an author and lawyer. Early life Dudley Vinton, as he was called, was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 23, 1852. He was the third son of the Reverend Dr. Francis Vinton (18 ...

, and

George Frelinghuysen George Griswold Frelinghuysen (May 9, 1851 – April 21, 1936) was an American patent lawyer, and president of Ballantine (brewery), P. Ballantine & Sons Company, a New Jersey brewery. Early life Frelinghuysen was born in Newark, New Jersey on ...

, future president of the Ballantine Brewing Company. He and his brother,

, were also founding members of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...

Elected as a Democrat to the

47th Congress The 47th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881, ...

and reelected to the next three Congresses, Belmont served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for the first district of New York from March 4, 1881 until his resignation on December 1, 1888. During his first term, he was a member of the committee on foreign affairs; noted for his cross-examination of

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representati ...

, the former secretary of state. The cross-examination concerned Blaine's relations with a syndicate of American capitalists interested in the development of certain guano deposits in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. An attempt was made to show that Blaine's efforts toward mediation between

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and Peru were from interested motives. Belmont served from 1885 to 1887 as chairman of the committee on foreign affairs. On October 6, 1890 Belmont was invested as a Commander of the French Legion of Honor. In 1898, during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cl ...

, Belmont served for six weeks in the Army as an

Inspector General An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory o ...

of the First Division, Second Army Corps, United States Volunteers, with the rank of major. He was appointed United States Minister to Spain that same year. When the

Consolidated National Bank of New York 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 ...

was organized on July 1, 1902, the fourteen directors included individuals such as Belmont,

John W. Griggs John William Griggs (July 10, 1849 – November 28, 1927) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician, who served as the 29th governor of New Jersey, from 1896 to 1898. As Governor of New Jersey Griggs gained a reputation for siding w ...

Henry C. Brewster Henry Colvin Brewster (September 7, 1845 – January 29, 1928) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from New York. Early life Born in Rochester, New York, Brewster was the son of Simon Latham and Editha Chloe Colvin Brewster. ...

, George Crocker, and

Mortimer H. Wagar Mortimer Hartwell Wagar (1857 – December 23, 1926) was an American banker and businessperson. Wagar was a member of the Consolidated Exchange for 33 years. He was president from 1900 until 1903. He retired from the exchange in June 1923, at whi ...

. In 1906, Belmont became "permanent president" of the National Publicity Bill Organization, which fought for campaign finance disclosure. During the

First World War 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 fig ...

, despite being 65 years old, Belmont was commissioned as a captain in the

U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps The United States Army Quartermaster Corps, formerly the Quartermaster Department, is a sustainment, formerly combat service support (CSS), branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being t ...

on May 5, 1917. He was assigned to the Remount Division in

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, ...

, and was discharged on May 21, 1920. In 1929 Belmont became a hereditary member of the Rhode Island

Personal life

In 1899, after 17 years of marriage, Jessie Ann Robbins (1858-1935) divorced

Henry T. Sloane Henry Thompson Sloane (December 1, 1845 – September 18, 1937) was an American businessman during the Gilded Age. Early life Sloane was born in New York City on December 1, 1845. He was the fourth son of William Sloane (1810–1879) and Euphem ...

(son of William Sloane, the founder of W. & J. Sloane) to marry Perry Belmont. The marriage occurred only five hours after the divorce was decreed and, at the time, was considered scandalous. Belmont died 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, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...

, on May 25, 1947 (age 95 years, 148 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

along with his parents and his brother

in the Belmont family plot in the

Island Cemetery The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair o ...

in Newport. His former home in

, became the

International Temple The Perry Belmont House, sometimes referred to as the International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star, though there are no ritual or ceremonial spaces in the building, is the world headquarters of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of ...

for the

Order of the Eastern Star The Order of the Eastern Star is a Masonic appendant body open to both men and women. It was established in by lawyer and educator Rob Morris, a noted Freemason, and adopted and approved as an appendant body of the Masonic Fraternity in 18 ...

References

External links