Gilbert Livingston Beeckman

Gilbert Livingston Beeckman (October 7, 1823 – December 23, 1874) was an American merchant who was the father of Rhode Island Governor Robert Livingston Beeckman.

Early life

Beeckman was born on October 7, 1823, in New York City, New York. He was the son of Henry Beekman (1774–1857) and Catherine McPhaedris (née Livingston) Beeckman (1789–1863). His elder brother was John Henry Beeckman (who married Margaret Gardiner, daughter of David Gardiner, in 1848 at the Virginia plantation of her brother-in-law, former President John Tyler)[1][2] and his elder sister was Helen Smith Beekman (the wife of John Andrew Graham).[3]

His family ancestry can be traced back to Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam and his ancestors include Robert Livingston the Elder, Declaration signer Philip Livingston and "The Chancellor" Robert Livingston.[4] His paternal grandparents were Johannes Beekman and Hendrickje (née van Buren) Beekman. His maternal grandparents were Gilbert Robert Livingston (a grandson of Gilbert Livingston) and Martha De Lancey (née Kane) Livingston.[5]

Career

Beeckman became a merchant like his father before him. In 1855, he was listed as a wholesale dealer in foreign merchandise at 48 Broadway and was worth an estimated $150,000 and was a partner in Bowers, Beeckman, & Bradford, Jr. (which was Beeckman with Samuel D. Bradford of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, Henry Bowers Jr. of Yonkers, New York, Henry Beeckman Graham of New York and Samuel D. Bradford Jr. of Astoria), located at 82 Vesey Street.[6]

Beeckman's elder brother John and their cousin Henry Beeckman Livingston both set up a mercantile operating during the California Gold Rush.[7] His brother accidentally shot himself to death during a hunting trip there in 1850.[3]

Beeckman's business was severely affected by the Panic of 1873 before suffering a heart attack two days before Christmas 1874 which led to his death.[8]

Personal life

In 1851, Beeckman was married to Margaret Atherton Foster (1832–1904), a daughter of Samuel H. Foster and Eliza Robinson Atherton.[9] Together, they lived at 58 West 11th Street in Manhattan (with sojourns in Dutchess County, New York, and Newport, Rhode Island)[3] and were the parents of five children, four girls and one boy:

• Katherine Livingston Beeckman (1855–1941), who married Louis Lasher Lorillard, a son of Pierre Lorillard III.[10]
• Helen Beeckman (1858–1934),[11] who married William Pratt Lyman (d. 1924).[12]
• Margaret Atherton Beeckman (1861–1951),[13] who married Campbell Steward (1852–1936).[14]
• Martha Beeckman (1863–1951), who married New York banker Amos Tuck French.[15]
• Robert Livingston Beeckman (1866–1935),[16] who married Eleanor Thomas (1878–1920),[17] a daughter of Gen. Samuel Russell Thomas, in 1902. After her death, he married Edna (née Marston) Burke in 1923.[18]

Beeckman died on December 23, 1874, at age 51, at New Brighton, Staten Island.[19] After his death, his family moved to Newport, Rhode Island,[20] where they bought Land's End (which the writer Edith Wharton bought in 1893 for $80,000).[8][21] His widow died in April 1904 at 2 West 36th Street, her New York residence.[9]

References

1. Henry B. Livingston to Gilbert L. Beeckman, Fremont, April 27, 1850, Beeckman MSS Sacramento. Gardiner helped Beeckman’s cousin Henry B. Livingston solve issues surrounding the estate
2. Tyler, John (June 15, 1850). "Letter, 1850 June 15, John Tyler, Sherwood Forest, Virginia to Alexander Gardiner, New York, N.Y." digitalarchive.wm.edu. William & Mary Digital Archive. Retrieved 2 May 2017. News about the early death of John Beeckman and business matters regardin Pain's invention; remarks about the proceedings in Massachusetts; also about his lecture on history of Virginia to students.
3. Steward, Scott C. (September 9, 2016). "Lost generations". Vita Brevis. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
4. "R.L. Beeckman dies at Santa Barbara Home". Newport, Rhode Island: Newport Mercury and Weekly News. 25 January 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
5. Aitken, William Benford (1912). Distinguished Families in America, Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke. Knickerbocker Press. p. 19. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
6. "COPARTNERSHIP NOTICES". The New York Times. 6 July 1860. p. 1. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
7. McClain, Molly. "David Lion Gardiner: A Yankee in Gold Rush California, 1849-1851" (PDF). sandiegohistory.org. The Journal of San Diego History. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
8. "Gilbert Livingston Beeckman (1823-1874)". househistree.com. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
9. "DEATH LIST OF A DAY. | Mrs. Gilbert Livingston Beeckman". The New York Times. 20 April 1904. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
10. "MRS. LORILLARD, 86, OF NEWPORT, DEAD; Sister of Ex-Gov. Beeckman of Rhode Island Had Suffered a Stroke Thursday". The New York Times. 21 July 1941. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
11. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (30 July 1938). "MRS. WILLIAM P. LYMAN; Sister of Late Gov. Beeckman of Rhode Island Dies in West". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
12. The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. 1925. p. 199. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
13. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (27 April 1951). "MRS. CAMPBELL STEWARD". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
14. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (12 May 1936). "CAMPBELL STEWARD". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
15. "AMOS TUCK FRENCH, DIVORCEE, MARRIES; New York Banker Weds Miss Martha C. Beeckman ;- Engagement Unannounced. FIRST WIFE WAS MISS LEROY Divorce Followed Elopement of a Daughter with Chauffeur ;- Bride Sister of Gov.-elect Beeckman" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 November 1914. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
16. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (22 January 1935). "ROBERT BEECKMAN, EX-GOVERNOR, DIES; Descendant Also of Lvingstons Served 3 Terms, 1915-21, as Rhode Island Executive. WAS FRIEND OF HARDING Republican, 68, Was Mentioned for Vice President--Had Been in State Legislature". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
17. "MRS R. L. BEECKMAN DEAD IN VIRGINIA -- R I Governor's Wife Was Stricken Suddenly". The Boston Globe. December 21, 1920. p. 11. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
18. "MRS. R. L. BEECKMAN BRIDE IN HONOLULU; Widow of One-Time Rhode Island Governor Wed to Archibald Gourlay Thacher". The New York Times. 31 July 1937. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
19. "DIED". The New York Times. December 24, 1874. p. 5. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
20. Capace, Nancy (2001). The Encyclopedia of Rhode Island. USA: Somerset Publishers, Inc. p. 205. ISBN 0-403-09610-3. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
21. Lee, Hermione (2008). Edith Wharton (1st ed.). London: Vintage. ISBN 9780099763512. OCLC 254767936.

External links

• Gilbert Livingston Beeckman at Find a Grave