Frederic William Stevens

Frederic William Stevens

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 58036400
Frederick W. Stevens, of 2 West 57th Street, New York City

Yale College, B.A. 1858.

Born: September 19, 1839, in New York City.
Died: January 20, 1928, in New York City.

Father: Byam Kerby Stevens (B.A. 1811), a merchant; son of General Ebenezer Stevens, an artillery officer in the Revolutionary War and Major General of Artillery of New York state m War of 1812, and Lucretia (Ledyard) Stevens; descendant of Erasmus Stevens, who came to America from Cornwall, England, about 1727 and settled in Boston, Mass.; descended also from John Ledyard (born in England 1700), who settled first in Southold, Long Island, and later in Hartford, Conn, where he died in 1771.

Mother: Frances (Gallatin) Stevens; daughter of Albert Gallatin (graduate of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1779 who came to Boston in 1780), member of Congress, Secretary of the Treasury, and minister to France and Great Britain, and Hannah (Nicholson) Gallatin Yale relatives include: Samuel Stevens (B A 1805), Alexander H. Stevens (B.A. 1807), and John Austin Stevens (BA. 1813) (uncles); Alexander Henry Stevens, '54 (brother), Eben Stevens, '92, and Francis K Stevens, '97 S. (nephews); Byam Kerby Stevens, '19, and William Dixon Stevens, '23 (grandnephews); and Ledyard Stevens, '64 (cousin).

Preparatory training received under Richard P. Jenks. Oration appointment Junior year, high oration appointment Senior year; member University Crew, Brothers in Unity, Kappa Sigma Epsilon, Kappa Sigma Theta, Psi Upsilon, Skull and Bones, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Spent three years abroad after graduating from Yale, most of the time in Berlin, entered Columbia Law School in October, 1861, served as a Private in 22d New York Militia June-August, 1862, being stationed at Harper's Ferry during the greater part of the period; subsequently spent ten months m Europe and then reentered Columbia Law School (LL B 1864); afterwards practiced law in New York City, although not extensively; was also engaged in the management of his estate and was associated with various banks; director of Chemical National Bank 1871-1928; director of Gallatin National Bank from 1879 until it was taken over by the Hanover National Bank in 1912, of Bank for Savings since 1886 (first vice-president 1902-1920), of New York Gas Light Company from 1871 until its absorption (with five other gas companies) into Consolidated Gas Company in 1884, and of Eagle Fire Insurance Company in 1873; trustee of Bank of New York & Trust Company (formerly New York Life & Trust Company) 1872-1922 and since then honorary trustee; trustee of New York Free Circulating Library and member of circulating committee of New York Public Library 1880-1908; member of council of University Club 1879-1893; member St. James Church (Episcopal), New York City

Married (1) October 8, 1862, in New York City, Adele Livingston, daughter of Joseph and Adele (Livingston)
Sampson.

Children: Adele Livingston, married Frederick H. Allen (BA. Harvard 1880); Joseph Sampson; Frederic William (died in infancy); Frances Gallatin (Countess Maurice des Monstiers-Mennville), and Mabel Ledyard (Countess Micislas Orlowska). Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were legally separated in 1886.

Married (2) December 8, 1904, in New York City, Alice Caroline, daughter of Daniel James and Charlotte Louise (Vail) Seely, of St John, New Brunswick, and great-granddaughter of Oliver Arnold (BA 1776).

One daughter, Frederica, the wife of John Hone Auerbach (B.A. Princeton 1905).

Death due to old age. Buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y. Survived by wife, one son, four daughters, and fourteen grandchildren.
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After receiving preparatory training Richard P. Jenks, he attended Yale, where he graduated seventh in the class of 1858. While there, he was a member of Psi Upsilon, Skull and Bones, and Phi Beta Kappa

After graduating from Yale, he spent three years abroad mostly in Berlin, before returning to America to enter Columbia Law School in October 1861. His studies were cut short as the Civil War broke out and he volunteered as a Private in the 22nd New York Militia, serving from June to August 1862 during most of which he was stationed at Harper's Ferry. After he was discharged, he spent ten months in Europe before reentering Columbia where he graduated in 1864.

After passing the bar, he practiced law in New York City. He was also actively engaged in the management of his estate and was associated with various banks, including as a director of Chemical National Bank from 1871 until his death in 1928 (of which members of his family had been stockholders for nearly all of its existence); director of Gallatin National Bank (founded by his grandfather) from 1879 until it was taken over by the Hanover National Bank in 1912; director of the Bank for Savings since 1886 (for which he served as First Vice President from 1902 to 1920); director of the New York Gas Light Company from 1871 until it was absorbed into Consolidated Gas Company in 1884; director of the Eagle Fire Insurance Company in 1873; trustee of Bank of New York and Trust Company (formerly New York Life Insurance and Trust Company) from 1872 to 1922 (and then an honorary trustee until his death). At the time of his death, he was the longest serving director of a bank in the United States due to his fifty-seven years as a director of the Chemical National Bank.

Stevens was also a trustee of New York Free Circulating Library and a member of circulating committee of New York Public Library form 1880 to 1908; member of council of University Club from 1879 to 1893 and a member St. James' Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

On October 8, 1862, Stevens was married to Adele Livingston Sampson (1841–1912), a daughter of Joseph Sampson and Adele (née Livingston) Sampson. Before their legal separation in 1886, they had a home on Bellevue Avenue in Newport called "the Cedars",were the parents of one son and three daughters, including:

• Adele Livingston "Daisy" Stevens (1864–1939), who married Frederick Hobbes Allen, son of U.S. Representative Elisha Hunt Allen, a former U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii.
• Joseph Sampson Stevens (1865–1935), a Rough Rider who married Clara Harriet (née Sherwood) Rollins (1869–1924), the daughter of William Keeler Sherwood and former wife of stockbroker Edward Warren Rollins, in 1899.
• Frederic William Stevens Jr. (1867–1868), who died young.
• Frances Gallatin Stevens (1868–1956), who married Count Charles Alexandre Gaston de Gallifet in 1890. After his death in 1905, she married Count Maurice des Monstiers de Mérinville (1867–1936) in 1914.
• Mabel Ledyard Stevens (1872–1959), who married Count Micislas Orlowski, a polish diplomat and soldier, in 1891.

After their divorce, his wife remarried to the Maurice, Marquis de Talleyrand-Périgord in 1887 (who was recently divorced from Elizabeth Beers-Curtis, another American heiress). They divorced in April 1903, shortly before Stevens married Alice Caroline Seely in New York City on December 8, 1904. Alice was a daughter of Daniel James Seely and Charlotte Louise (née Vail) Seely of Saint John, New Brunswick. They were the parents of one daughter:

Frederica Stevens (1907–2000), who married John Hone Auerbach (1883–1962) in 1927. After their divorce in 1944, she married French oil executive Philippe Roger Bérard (1893–1977), a grandson of American painter William Parsons Winchester Dana, in 1949.

Stevens died on January 20, 1928, at 925 Park Avenue, his residence in New York City. After a funeral St. James' Church, he was buried in the family vault at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. His widow received a life interest in his estate with most of the estate going to his youngest daughter Frederica.