Frederic P. Olcott

Frederic Pepoon Olcott
Frederic P. Olcott, businessman and New York State Comptroller
24th New York State Comptroller
In office
1877–1879
Preceded byLucius Robinson
Succeeded byJames Wolcott Wadsworth
Personal details
Born(1841-02-23)February 23, 1841
Albany, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 15, 1909(1909-04-15) (aged 68)
Bernardsville, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting placeAlbany Rural Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Other political
affiliations		Democrat (1877-1896)
RelationsDudley Olcott (brother)
EducationThe Albany Academy

Frederic Pepoon Olcott (February 23, 1841, in Albany, Albany County, New York – April 15, 1909, in Bernardsville, Somerset County, New Jersey) was an American banker and politician.

Early life

Olcott was born on February 23, 1841, in Albany, New York. He was the eleventh and last child of Thomas Worth Olcott (1795–1880)[1] and Caroline Dwight (née Pepoon) Olcott (1797–1867). His father, as well as his elder brother Dudley, served as President of the Mechanics' and Farmers' and the Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank of Albany.[2][3]

He was educated at The Albany Academy, and then began working at his father's bank.[2] After leaving the bank, he joined the lumber firm of Bissell, Fassett & Co.[4]

Career

In 1866, he relocated to New York City and became a stockbroker in Wall Street.[2]

On January 1, 1877, he was appointed New York State Comptroller to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term of Lucius Robinson who had been elected Governor.[5] At the New York state election, 1877, he was elected on the Democratic, German-American Independent and Bread-Winners' League tickets to succeed himself,[6] and remained in office until the end of 1879. He was defeated for re-election at the New York state election, 1879.[2]

From 1884 to 1905, he was President of the Central Trust Company of New York, which after mergers and acquisitions found its way into the JPMorgan Chase company. In this capacity he was involved in the re-organization of many railroads in financial trouble, like the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad, the Third Avenue Railroad, and the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad. He also was a director of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.[2]

In 1896, because of his opposition to William Jennings Bryan whom he accused of trying to destroy the American economy, he became a Republican and was a delegate from New Jersey to the 1900 Republican National Convention.[7]

Personal life

Olcott was married to Mary Esmay, a daughter of Isaac Esmay and Eliza (née Angus) Esmay.[8] Together, they had two children, a son and a daughter:[4]

  • Edith Olcott (1870–1953),[9] who married Barend van Gerbig.[9]
  • Dudley Olcott II (1874–1946),[10][11] who married Sarah Lewis (née Crozer) Howard in 1903.[12] They divorced in 1932 and he married Leontine "Leo" Marie Berry (1883–1981).[13] His first wife later married Prince Basil Narischkine.[14]

After suffering from heart trouble and chronic Bright's disease, he died at his farm in Bernardsville, New Jersey.[2] He was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 53, Lot 12.[15]

Descendants

Through his daughter Edith, he was a grandfather of Howell Van Gerbig (1902–1965),[16] who married four times,[17] including to Geraldine Livingston Thompson and Dorothy Randolph Fell,[18][a] and was the mother of Howell John "Mickey" van Gerbig (1941–2006),[23] and Barend "Barry" van Gerbig (b. 1939), best known as the owner of the NHL's California Seals.

Through his son Dudley, he was a grandfather of Jeanne "Jean" Grubb Olcott, who married George M. Owens,[24] and Gladys Grubb Olcott (1904–1978), who married French soldier and diplomat, Jean de Pendril Waddington, in 1922.[25] They divorced in 1932,[26] and she married Count Josef Graf von Ledebur-Wicheln a month later.[27] They also divorced.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Dorothy Randolph Fell (1912–1945),[19] was a daughter of John Ruckman Fell II (1890–1933) and Dorothy Randolph (1889–1968).[19] After Dorothy's parents divorced, her mother married U.S. Representative Ogden Livingston Mills (who later became U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) in 1924 and her father married Mildred Santery in 1925,[20] and Martha Ederton, a former Ziegfeld Follies showgirl, in 1932 (shortly before his death in the East Indies in 1933).[21] Her maternal grandmother, Sarah Rozet (née Drexel) (a daughter of Anthony Joseph Drexel), married Alexander Van Rensselaer following the death of her paternal grandfather.[22]
Sources
  1. ^ "A VETERAN BANKER DEAD". The New York Times. 24 March 1880. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "FREDERIC P. OLCOTT, FINANCIER, IS DEAD. He Was ex-President of the Central Trust Company and Once Controller of the State DEATH FOLLOWS A SHOCK He Reorganized Many Tottering Railroads--Flowers and Fast Trotters His Hobbies--Died on His Farm" (PDF). The New York Times. April 16, 1909. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (20 July 1938). "THOMAS OLCOTT, 82, STREET CAR OFFICIAL; Ex-Secretary and Treasurer of Union Railway Co. Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b Rathbone, Albert (1937). Josiah Olcott and Deborah Worth, His Wife: A Record of Their Descendants and Notes Regarding Their Ancestors. Press of B.H. Tyrrel. pp. 39–40. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  5. ^ Weeks, Lyman Horace (1898). Prominent Families of New York: Being an Account in Biographical Form of Individuals and Families Distinguished as Representatives of the Social, Professional and Civic Life of New York City. Historical Company. p. 433. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  6. ^ "FOR STATE OFFICERS" (PDF). The New York Times. October 29, 1877. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  7. ^ ""ACTING LIKE A SET OF IDIOTS." F. P. Olcott's Criticism of Democrats--Will Be Republican Delegate" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1900. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  8. ^ Rathbone, Albert (1940). Captain Daniel Pepoon and Levina Phelps, His First Wife; Elizabeth James, His Second Wife: A Partial Record of Their Descendants and Notes Regarding Their Ancestors. Press of B.H. Tyrrel. p. 89. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Deaths -- VAN GERBIG". The New York Times. 16 July 1953. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  10. ^ "DUDLEY OLCOTT 2D, LONG A BANKER, 72". The New York Times. 28 June 1946. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Syndicate Gets Estate In Locust Valley, L.I. (Published 1946)". The New York Times. 29 September 1946. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Married -- OLCOTT-HOWARD". The New York Times. 19 August 1903. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Marriages -- OLCOTT-BERRY". The New York Times. 2 March 1932. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  14. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YOBK (5 April 1932). "MRS. SARAH OLCOTT IS WED; Is Married to Prince Basil Narisch- kine in Paris". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  15. ^ Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011, entry for Frederick P. Olcott, accessed June 29, 2013
  16. ^ "Howell Van Gerbig, 63, Is Found Dead in Florida". The New York Times. 14 May 1965. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Howell van Gerbig; Weds Mrs. Barry". The New York Times. 24 December 1964. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  18. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (13 June 1937). "HOME BRIDAL HELD FOR DOROTHY FELL; Daughter of Mrs. Ogden Mills Wed to Howell van Gerbig in Woodbury, L. I." The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  19. ^ a b "MRS. HOWELL VAN GERBIG; Wife of Aircraft Executive-- Daughter of Mrs. Ogden Mills". The New York Times. 29 July 1945. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  20. ^ "MISS SANTERY A BRIDE.; Married to John R. Fell, Whose First Wife Is Mrs. Ogden L. Mills". The New York Times. 18 October 1925. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  21. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (2 June 1933). "MRS. J.R. FELL RETAINS PHILADELPHIA LAWYER; Widow of Man Stabbed in Java to Protect Interest -- Estate Put at $2,000,000". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  22. ^ "MRS. JOHN R FELL ENGAGED". The New York Times. 4 December 1897. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  23. ^ Bachrach, Special to the New York TimesBradford (25 April 1963). "Linda W. Hicklin Will Be Married; Nuptials June 29; Fiancee of Howell van Gerbig Jr.--Both Are Seniors at Rollins". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  24. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (19 March 1933). "MISS JEAN OLCOTT WED.; New York Girl Has Been Wife of George M. Owens Since Last May". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  25. ^ "MISS GLADYS OLCOTT TO WED A FRENCHMAN; Becomes Engaged to Jean de Pendrill Waddington of Chateau de Vert en Dronair". The New York Times. 4 August 1922. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  26. ^ "SUES JEAN WADDINGTON.; Former Gladys Olcott Files Secretly in Nevada for a Divorce". The New York Times. 19 August 1932. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  27. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (22 November 1932). "Mrs. G.O. Waddington Is Wed". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
Political offices
Preceded by New York State Comptroller
1877–1879 		Succeeded by