Harry Coster

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Harry Coster
Born
Henry Arnold Coster

c. 1840
New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 2, 1917(1917-11-02) (aged 76–77)
St. Adresse, Westchester, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Mary Lee Coles
​
(m. 1866)​
RelativesJohn Gerard Coster (grandfather)

Henry Arnold Coster[a] (c. 1840 – November 2, 1917) was an American clubman who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.

Early life

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Coster was the son of Daniel Joachim Coster and Julia (née DeLancey) Coster (1806–1890),[1] who married in 1835 and lived at 234 West 14th Street.[1] His father became a member of the auction firm of Hone & Coster.[2] They established the family estate in Westchester (which became part of the Bronx in 1895).[3]

His paternal grandparents were Catherine Margaret (née Holsman) Coster and John Gerard Coster,[4] who came to the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War from Haarlem in the Netherlands and founded the family fortune with his brother through the mercantile firm, "Henry A. & John G. Coster", and died in 1844.[5] His grandparents had twelve children that married into many prominent families including the Schermerhorns and Heckshers.[5] His paternal uncles included Gerard H. Coster who married Matilda Prime (a daughter of banker Nathaniel Prime), George Washington Coster who married Elizabeth Oakey (a daughter of merchant Daniel Oakey),[6] and his aunt was Georgiana Louisa Coster, who married Charles August Heckscher.[5] Among his many first cousins was Charles Henry Coster and John Gerard Heckscher.[7]

His maternal grandfather was Oliver Delancey of the Delancey family,[b] which was one of the oldest families in New York state.[2] His paternal uncles included Daniel Delancey and John Delancey, who later owned part of the Coster Estate in Westchester.[3]

Society life

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Home for Incurables, Fordham, Bronx

In 1892, Coster was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[10] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[11][12] Coster was a member of the St. Nicholas Society.[13]

The Coster's spent their summers in Newport, Rhode Island.[14] His wife, who was prominent in society in Boston before their marriage, Mary served as vice-president of the Home for Incurables in Fordham.[15]

Personal life

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On December 6, 1866,[16] Coster was married to Mary Lee Coles (c. 1842–1922).[15] She was the daughter of Isaac Underhill Coles and Martha Ellery (née Jones) Coles, who married in Boston in July 1823.[c][19] Her sister, Grace Coles was married to Edward Templeton Snelling.[20] They lived in New York at 2 East 41st Street[21] and at their country home, known as "St. Adresse", in Westchester County, New York.[12] Together, Harry and Mary were the parents of:

Coster died at his country home in Westchester on November 2, 1917.[30] His widow, who had a summer home in Southampton, New York known as "Wee Cot",[28] died in November 1922 at her residence, 50 East 81st Street, which she inherited from her husband.[31] Her funeral was held at St. James' Episcopal Church on Madison Avenue and she was buried alongside her husband at the Coster family vault in the churchyard of St. Peters' Church in the Village of Westchester (which is now the East Bronx).[15]

After Coster's death, his children auctioned off his estate with the Parish of St. Benedict's purchasing the family mansion in 1929 who used it as a schoolhouse until the Coster Mansion was torn down in 1930 and a new school was built in its place on Edison Avenue.[32] To this day, St. Benedict's School stands on the same site.[3]

References

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Notes
  1. ^ Coster was named after his uncle, Henry Arnold Coster, who was named after his uncle, Henry Arnold Coster (d. 1821).
  2. ^ Coster's grandfather, Oliver Delancey, was the son of Peter Delancey and the grandson of Huguenot immigrant and merchant Stephen Delancey. His grandfather was also the brother-in-law of Thomas Henry Barclay,[8] and the nephew of Lt. Gov. of New York James DeLancey and British Army Brig. Gen. Oliver Delancey and the maternal grandson of Cadwallader Colden, the Colonial Governor of New York.[9]
  3. ^ Mary's mother, Martha Ellery (née Jones) Coles was the youngest daughter of John Coffin Jones Sr. (1750–1829), the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Martha's older brother was John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796–1861), the first U.S. Consul to the Kingdom of Hawaii, and her older sister was Margaret Champlin Jones (1792–1848), who married Benjamin Underhill Coles, her husband's brother.[17][18]
  4. ^ At the wedding, Martha's brother Oliver walked her down the aisle, Frederick's best man was his brother Carlisle Wombwell, and Edward Coster Wilmerding (sister of Georgiana Wilmerding) and Harry H. Benkard were their ushers.[23]
  5. ^ Coppell, who lived at 40 Fifth Avenue and The Towers in Tenafly, was also the namesake of Coppell, Texas. Mary's first husband was the wealthy Edgar Hetfield Booth (1861–1904).[27]
Sources
  1. ^ a b "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. October 3, 1890. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Barrett, Walter (1864). The Old Merchants of New York City. Carleton. pp. 190–199. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Twomey, Bill (July 25, 2008). "Do You Remember". Bronx Times. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  4. ^ Townsend, Annette (1932). The Auchmuty family of Scotland and America. New York: The Grafton Press. pp. 257–260. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1919). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 305. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "THE COSTER FAMILY SET OF SEVEN CLASSICAL CARVED MAHOGANY CURULE-BASE DINING CHAIRS , ATTRIBUTED TO DUNCAN PHYFE (1768-1854), NEW YORK, 1810-1820". www.christies.com. Christie's. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  7. ^ Weeks, Lyman Horace (1897). 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. New York: The Historical company. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Tulloch, Judith (1987). "Barclay, Thomas Henry". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VI (1821–1835) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  9. ^ Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year ... New-York Historical Society. 1928. p. 12. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  10. ^ McAllister, Ward (February 16, 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  11. ^ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 212. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  13. ^ "LEADER IN NEW YORK SOCIETY, SOON TO MARRY CLUBMAN". The Washington Post. May 17, 1913. p. 11. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  14. ^ "People and Social Incident". New-York Tribune. September 1, 1910. p. 6. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c "Mrs. Henry A. Coster Dead | Funeral To-morrow From St. James's Church". New York Herald. November 23, 1922. p. 11. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  16. ^ "NYC Marriage & Death Notices 1857-1868". www.nysoclib.org. New York Society Library. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  17. ^ Assembly, New York (State) Legislature (1898). Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. E. Croswell. p. 265. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  18. ^ Kenslea, Timothy (2006). The Sedgwicks in Love: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage in the Early Republic. UPNE. p. 199. ISBN 9781584654940. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  19. ^ The Manifesto Church: Records of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, with Lists of Communicants, Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals, 1699-1872. Benevolent Fraternity of Churches. 1902. p. 274. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  20. ^ Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge (1871). The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass. J. Munsell. p. 631. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  21. ^ "Saunterings". Town Topics. X (26). Town Topics Publishing Company: 6. December 28, 1893. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  22. ^ "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. April 7, 1955. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c "MISS COSTER WEDS F. S. WOMBWELL; Daughter of Late Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Coster Married in St. James's Church" (PDF). The New York Times. November 23, 1923. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  24. ^ "Oliver Coster; 75, Realty Executive; Pease & Elliman Official 48 Years Dies | A Descendant of Prominent Families" (PDF). The New York Times. July 12, 1947. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  25. ^ "MRS. OLIVER COSTER, WIFE OF REALTY MAN; Father Was British Consul at New Orleans During Civil War--Dies at Home" (PDF). The New York Times. April 24, 1937. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  26. ^ a b "MRS. BOOTH WEDS OLIVER DEL. COSTER | Ceremony at Tenafly Church, Followed by Reception at Home of the Misses Coppell. | A FULL CHORAL SERVICE | With Part of Garden City Cathedral Choir -- Bride Formerly Miss Koppell of 40 Fifth Avenue" (PDF). The New York Times. June 24, 1913. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  27. ^ "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. March 8, 1904. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1920. p. 67. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  29. ^ "COSTER -- DANSEY" (PDF). The New York Times. July 13, 1939. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  30. ^ "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. November 4, 1917. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  31. ^ "WIFE GETS COSTER ESTATE | Residence in East 81st Street is Valued at $50,000". New York Herald. August 15, 1918. p. 7. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  32. ^ "Parish History". stbenedictchurchny.org. St. Benedict's. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
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