Francis Randall Appleton (1854-1929)

He was born at Lenox, Massachusetts. He was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover; Harvard College (1875); and, Columbia Law School (1877). From 1884 until his retirement in 1910, he was director of Robbins & Appleton, established by his father as the New York agents for the Waltham Watch Company that for more than 50 years led America in the manufacture of clocks and watches. He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars; the Republican Party; an overseer of Harvard College (1903-1909); and, President of the Harvard Club of New York from 1916 to 1919. He married Fanny Lanier whose grandfather built the Lanier Mansion in Madison, Indiana. He lived with his wife and their five children between 26 East 37th Street, New York City, and his family's 300-year old country estate, Appleton Farms, in Ipswich, Massachusetts.