Harrison E. Gawtry

Harrison Edward Gawtry (November 28, 1840 – January 28, 1919) was an American businessman who was one of the organizers of the Consolidated Gas Company of New York, and served as president for more than ten years until his retirement in December 1904

Early life

Gawtry was born on November 28, 1840, in New York City. He was a son of Woolen merchant William M. Gawtry (1808–1893), who emigrated from England to New York in 1821, and his first wife, Harriet Hedden.[1] After the death of his mother, his father married Anne Eliza Walker in 1857.[1] His paternal grandfather, John Gawtry, was born at Elvington, near York, in 1773 and died in Geneva, New York, in 1847.[1][2]

During the U.S. Civil War, Gawtry served with Company K of the 7th Regiment, New York.[3]

Career

In 1878, Gawtry became interested in the Municipal Gas Light Company together with Charles G. Francklyn. In 1884, Gawtry and Francklyn led the merger of six gas companies (including the Municipal Gas Light Company, the New York Gas Light Company, the Manhattan Gas Light Company, and the Metropolitan Gas Light Company) which combined into the Consolidated Gas Company on November 10, 1884. Gawtry he was a member of the first board of trustees and served as the company's first secretary. He was elected treasurer in 1886 and, in January 1894, he became president. During his presidency, the Company acquired practically all of the gas and electric light companies doing business in Manhattan, the Bronx and Long Island City.[3]

Gawtry resigned as president in December 1904, but was elected chairman of the board of trustees and of the company’s executive committee. He resigned his chairmanship in 1917. At the time of his death in 1919, he was the last remaining trustee of the original board of trustees of the Consolidated Gas Company. Consolidated Gas later purchased Thomas Edison's Edison Illuminating Company and became known as the modern day firm of Consolidated Edison.[4]

In addition he was vice president of the New York Mutual Gas Light Company, and a member of the board of trustees of the New York Edison Company, the Consolidated Telegraph & Electrical Subway Company, the Northern Union Gas Company, the Northern Westchester Lighting Company, the Peekskill Lighting & Railroad Company. Shortly before his death, he had resigned as director of all of the subsidiary companies of the Consolidated Gas Company of New York. Gawtry also served as a trustee of the Astor Trust Company, Union Trust Company, and the Fulton Trust Company among other financial institutions.[3]

Personal life

In 1866, Gawtry was married to Emma Louise Brown (1841–1912),[5] a daughter of Emma (née Manning) Brown and Lewis B. Brown, a founder of Elberon, New Jersey.[6] Together, they were the parents of:

• Lewis Brown Gawtry (1869–1954),[7] who married Olive Van Rensselaer, a daughter of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Olivia (née Atterbury) Van Rensselaer, in 1899.[8][9]
• Helen Gawtry (1870–1961),[10] who married Dr. Howard Dennis Collins (1868–1947), a son of George and Anna Maria (née Taft) Collins,[11] in 1895.[12]

He was a member of the Union League Club, the Union Club and Tuxedo Clubs, Chamber of Commerce of New York, New-York Historical Society, the American Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sons of the Revolution and Seventh Regiment Veterans' Association.[3]

His wife Emma died on October 29, 1912.[5] After several years of poor health, Gawtry died on January 28, 1919, at 33 East 57th Street, his residence in New York City.[3]

Descendants

Through his son Lewis, he was a grandfather of Olive Van Rensselaer Gawtry (1901–1980), who married Robert W. Tilney in 1936,[13] and Beatrice Gawtry, who married José A. Machado Jr. in 1932[14][15]

Through his daughter Helen, he was a grandfather of Dorothy Collins (1901–1998),[16] who married Willem van Tets (former Consul-General of the Netherlands in San Francisco) in 1929,[17] and Hugh Gawtry Collins (1905–1999),[18][19] who married Frances Oliver Fisher in 1931.[20][21]

References

1. Virkus, Frederick Adams; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1925). The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: First Families of America. A.N. Marquis. p. 919. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
2. Burke's Distinguished Families of America: The Lineages of 1600 Families of British Origin Now Resident in the United States of America. Burke's Peerage. 1948. p. 2702. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
3. "HARRISON GAWTRY, GAS CAPITALIST, DIES; President for Ten Years of Consolidated Co., of Which HeWas an Organizer.PIONEER IN THE MUTUALNative New Yorker and Civil WarVeteran Was a Trustee inMany Big Corporations". The New York Times. 30 January 1919. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
4. "C.G. FRANCKLYN DIES; BUILT GAS INDUSTRY; Bought Waste Product, Which Proved to Be Naphtha, for One Cent a Gallon. DEVELOPED THE GAS RANGE Grandson of Founder of Cunard Line Loaned House at Elberon, N.J., Where Garfield Died. Refuse Was Naphtha. Interested in Ranches and Mines" (PDF). The New York Times. January 12, 1929. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
5. "DIED -- GAWTRY". The New York Times. 30 October 1912. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
6. Leonard, John W. (1926). Who's who in Finance, Banking and Insurance: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. Who's who in finance, incorporated. p. 366. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
7. "LEWIS GAWTRY, 85, EX-BANKER, DEAD; Former President of Savings Institution Had Served as Boy Scouts Treasurer". The New York Times. 20 April 1954. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
8. "MRS. LEWIS GAWTRY; Wife of Banker, Kin of Patroons of Rensselaerwyck, Dies". The New York Times. 6 March 1946. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
9. "VAN RENSSELAER LEFT ESTATE OF ONLY $2,500; Former Diplomat's Brother and Two Sisters Are Named as Heirs --Family Gets Davis Property". The New York Times. 19 November 1930. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
10. "DIED -- COLLINS". The New York Times. 6 July 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
11. Special to the New York Times (10 October 1947). "DR. HOWARD D. COLLINS". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
12. "A DAY'S WEDDINGS.; Collins-- Gawtry". The New York Times. 21 June 1895. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
13. "OLIVE V. R. GAWTRY ENGAGED TO WED; Member of Van Rensselaer Family to Become Bride of Robert W. Tilney". The New York Times. 14 March 1934. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
14. "BEATRICE GAWTRY ENGAGED TO MARRY; New York Girl's Betrothal to Jose Machado Jr., Announced by Her Parents. SHE IS COLONIAL DAME A Kin of Late L. B. Brown, Founder of Elberorj, N. J.uHer Fiance Is Harvard Graduate". The New York Times. 15 December 1932. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
15. "NEW WEDDING DATES ANNOUNCED; Miss Beatrice Gawtry Will Be Married at St. Thomas Church on Wednesday -- Out of Town Ceremonies". The New York Times. 25 December 1932. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
16. "Paid Notice: Deaths VAN TETS, DOROTHY COLLINS". The New York Times. 18 December 1998. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
17. "DOROTHY COLLINS TO WED ON JUNE 4; Attendants Chosen for Her Marriage to Willem van Tets in St. James's Church. JANE OLMSTED'S BRIDAL Daughter of Mrs. Vance C. McCormick to Marry A.A. Houghton Jr.in Harrisburg, Pa., June 12. Olmsted--Houghton" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 May 1929. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
18. "Paid Notice: Deaths COLLINS, HUGH GAWTRY". The New York Times. 28 October 1999. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
19. "COLLINS, HUGH GAWTRY". Hartford Courant. October 27, 1999. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
20. "Paid Notice: Deaths COLLINS, FRANCES FISHER". The New York Times. 17 June 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
21. Winburn, Photo by Jay Te (11 June 1931). "FRANCES FISHER WED TO HUGH G. COLLINS; Bishop Lloyd Performs Ceremony in Chapel of Cathedralof St. John the Divine.UNCLE ESCORTS THE BRIDE Miss Jean L. Flagler Is the Maid ofHonor--Reception Is Heldat Colony Club". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2022.