Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant (1870-1953)
A. Van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., of New York; the Governor's Last Male Descendant
He was born at his parent's home on Fifth Avenue and 20th Street. He and his two sisters were educated at home by tutors, never attending either school or college. They grew up principally at their parents new home, the "imposing" house at 3 East 57th Street (adjoining the infamous Mary Mason Jones Mansion at 1 East 57th Street ) in New York with summers spent at either Newport, Southampton, or Tuxedo Park. In early adulthood, he had entertained and had been entertained. He joined the Union Club and New York Yacht Club among others, but in his forties he rescinded his memberships to all of them except the Church Club. After their father died in 1918, he and his two unmarried sisters (Catharine and Anne) moved into his old home (their childhood home) on East 57th Street. A Second-Empire mansion of brownstone, it was described as, "attractive (with) a frontage of 42.5 feet on the street by 100.5-feet in depth".
In 1924, they paid $300,000 to have a marble baptistry (60-feet high and 31-feet across) built inside the New York Cathedral with decorative sculptures that included a figure of their ancestor, Peter Stuyvesant. When Catharine died later that year, he and Anne drove to the funeral service in, "a crested carriage and pair with two liveried men on the box".
In 1929, they replaced 3 East 57th Street with a new development on which they agreed a 63-year lease valued at $90,000 a year (net) with L.P. Hollander's Dress Shop. The siblings temporarily lived at the Savoy Plaza Hotel on 59th Street before buying the chateau at 2 East 79th Street off Fifth Avenue. After Anne, died in 1938, Augustus came into possession of the entire $4-million that his father had left in equal shares to him and his sisters. It included 62-acres of the original 'Great Bouwerie' farm granted to Peter Stuyvesant in 1667, extending from Fifth to 17th Streets between Fourth Avenue and the East River. Augustus and Anne had already agreed that they would leave their fortune to St. Luke's Hospital to build the Augustus van Horne and Harriet LeRoy Stuyvesant Memorial Pavilion "for the poor" on the Lower East Side in memory of their parents.
He remained in his chateau alone except for a chauffeur, butler, valet, and a small housekeeping staff of four. For the last 15-years of his life he lived as a virtual recluse, eating, "utterly alone at the big dining room table... served by (Ernest) Vernon, the butler, and an assistant footman". A favorite hobby of his was to sit in front of a picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and cuss. Ernest Vernon was servitor to Mr Stuyvesant for 33-years, never once taking a vacation, but admitted: "We were perfect strangers... no-one ever passed the time of day with Mr. Stuyvesant". Yet at Augustus' funeral, it was reported that in the front left pew, "Mr Stuyvesant's (70-year old) white-haired, ruddy-faced butler, dressed in formal black, sat alone, weeping into a handkerchief".
At precisely noon each day, Augustus could be seen taking his daily walk for an hour in the local vicinity -a tall, erect, white-haired figure. In his declining years, one or twice a month, he was driven up to the Church of St.-Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie by his chauffeur in plum-colored livery. Stuyvesant - dressed in black - would wander between the tombstones in the churchyard, quietly reading their inscriptions, before bowing his head for five minutes in silent contemplation in front of the bronze bust of his illustrious ancestor, Governor Stuyvesant. Lastly, he'd sit in silence, lost in thought, in the Stuyvesant's family pew inside the church. He had been a vestrymen at St. Mark's for many years but when the controversial rector, Guthrie, reshuffled the members, Stuyvesant was not included and he changed allegiances to St. James' Church.
Among the possessions that were disposed of after his death were his pristinely kept old automobiles: a pair of Pierce-Arrows from 1912 and 1923; a 1929 Lincoln; and, a 1934 Buick. The furnishing from his mansion that were sold after his death were predominantly French (eg., a 250-piece dinner service) although there was also silver dating from 18th Century New York, 12-family portraits and a myriad of miniatures. He was the 85th and last Stuyvesant to be buried in the Stuyvesant family vault under the east wall of the Church of St.-Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie. He was unmarried and left no children.
In 1924, they paid $300,000 to have a marble baptistry (60-feet high and 31-feet across) built inside the New York Cathedral with decorative sculptures that included a figure of their ancestor, Peter Stuyvesant. When Catharine died later that year, he and Anne drove to the funeral service in, "a crested carriage and pair with two liveried men on the box".
In 1929, they replaced 3 East 57th Street with a new development on which they agreed a 63-year lease valued at $90,000 a year (net) with L.P. Hollander's Dress Shop. The siblings temporarily lived at the Savoy Plaza Hotel on 59th Street before buying the chateau at 2 East 79th Street off Fifth Avenue. After Anne, died in 1938, Augustus came into possession of the entire $4-million that his father had left in equal shares to him and his sisters. It included 62-acres of the original 'Great Bouwerie' farm granted to Peter Stuyvesant in 1667, extending from Fifth to 17th Streets between Fourth Avenue and the East River. Augustus and Anne had already agreed that they would leave their fortune to St. Luke's Hospital to build the Augustus van Horne and Harriet LeRoy Stuyvesant Memorial Pavilion "for the poor" on the Lower East Side in memory of their parents.
He remained in his chateau alone except for a chauffeur, butler, valet, and a small housekeeping staff of four. For the last 15-years of his life he lived as a virtual recluse, eating, "utterly alone at the big dining room table... served by (Ernest) Vernon, the butler, and an assistant footman". A favorite hobby of his was to sit in front of a picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and cuss. Ernest Vernon was servitor to Mr Stuyvesant for 33-years, never once taking a vacation, but admitted: "We were perfect strangers... no-one ever passed the time of day with Mr. Stuyvesant". Yet at Augustus' funeral, it was reported that in the front left pew, "Mr Stuyvesant's (70-year old) white-haired, ruddy-faced butler, dressed in formal black, sat alone, weeping into a handkerchief".
At precisely noon each day, Augustus could be seen taking his daily walk for an hour in the local vicinity -a tall, erect, white-haired figure. In his declining years, one or twice a month, he was driven up to the Church of St.-Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie by his chauffeur in plum-colored livery. Stuyvesant - dressed in black - would wander between the tombstones in the churchyard, quietly reading their inscriptions, before bowing his head for five minutes in silent contemplation in front of the bronze bust of his illustrious ancestor, Governor Stuyvesant. Lastly, he'd sit in silence, lost in thought, in the Stuyvesant's family pew inside the church. He had been a vestrymen at St. Mark's for many years but when the controversial rector, Guthrie, reshuffled the members, Stuyvesant was not included and he changed allegiances to St. James' Church.
Among the possessions that were disposed of after his death were his pristinely kept old automobiles: a pair of Pierce-Arrows from 1912 and 1923; a 1929 Lincoln; and, a 1934 Buick. The furnishing from his mansion that were sold after his death were predominantly French (eg., a 250-piece dinner service) although there was also silver dating from 18th Century New York, 12-family portraits and a myriad of miniatures. He was the 85th and last Stuyvesant to be buried in the Stuyvesant family vault under the east wall of the Church of St.-Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie. He was unmarried and left no children.
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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 27/01/2019 and last updated on 18/07/2021.