Augustus Jay

Augustus Jay (October 17, 1850 – December 25, 1919) was an American diplomat and member of the prominent Jay family.

Augustus Jay
Born	(1850-10-17)October 17, 1850 Washington, D.C.
Died	December 25, 1919(1919-12-25) (aged 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard College Columbia Law School
Spouse	Emily Astor Kane ​ (m. 1876)​
Children	Peter Augustus Jay DeLancey Kane Jay
Parent(s)	Peter Augustus Jay Josephine Pearson Jay
Relatives	Peter Augustus Jay (grandfather) John Clarkson Jay (uncle)
Awards	Legion of Honour

Early life

Jay was born on October 17, 1850, in Washington, D.C.^[1] He was the only child of Peter Augustus Jay and Josephine (née Pearson) Jay (1829–1852).^[2] His mother died on January 3, 1852, at just twenty-two years old. After her death, his father committed to his sole care before his death three years later on October 31, 1855, in New York City.^[3] His paternal grandfather was Peter Augustus Jay, a member of the New York State Assembly and Recorder of New York City, and grandson of John Jay, Founding Father and first United States Chief Justice.^[4]

Jay graduated from Harvard College in 1871 and from Columbia Law School in 1876.^[5]

Career

Although admitted to the New York bar, Jay never practiced law, instead he entered the diplomatic service. From 1885 to 1893, he was Secretary of the American Legation in Paris.^[5] On his retirement as Secretary of the American Legation in Paris, the French Government made him an officer of the Legion of Honor.^[5]

After they returned from France, they spent much time in Newport, Rhode Island, where Jay was one of the most prominent New York residents. In Newport, he was a stockholder of the Newport Reading Room and a member of the Newport Fishing Club.^[6] They owned Oakwold, located at 65 Old Beach Road, and designed in 1883 by architect Clarence Sumner Luce (designer of the Holyoke Opera House, Wistariahurst, and the James Henry Van Alen house).^[7]

Personal life

On October 3, 1876, Jay was married to Emily Astor Kane (1854–1932),^[6] a daughter of DeLancey Kane and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon) Kane.^[8] Emily, a descendant of John Jacob Astor, was the sister of DeLancey Astor Kane, Commodore S. Nicholson Kane, John Innes Kane, Sybil Kent Kane, and Rough Rider Woodbury Kane, all cousins of John Jacob Astor IV.^[9] Together, Augustus and Emily were the parents of:^[10]

• Peter Augustus Jay (1877–1933),^[11] also a diplomat who served as U.S. General Consul to Egypt, U.S. Minister to El Salvador and Romania and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina.^[12] He married Susan Alexander McCook, a daughter of Civil War officer and attorney John James McCook (and a granddaughter of Daniel McCook of the "Fighting McCooks").^[13]
• DeLancey Kane Jay (1881–1941),^[14] who married Elizabeth Sarah Morgan (1889–1975), a granddaughter of U.S. Senator and Governor Edwin D. Morgan, in 1910.^{[15][16][lower-alpha 1]}

He was a member of the Knickerbocker Club, Union Club, and University Club of New York.^[5]

Jay died of heart disease on Christmas Day 1919, at his home, 960 Park Avenue in Manhattan.^[5] After a funeral at Trinity Church, he was buried in the John Jay Cemetery in Rye like his father before him.^[3][21][22] His widow left an estate valued at $450,000 upon her death.^[23]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Peter,^[11] he was a grandfather of Emily Kane Jay (1911–1926) and Susan Mary Alsop (1918–2004).^[24][9]

Through his second son DeLancey,^[14] he was a grandfather of six:^[25] Elizabeth Morgan (née Jay) Etnier Hollins (1911–1991),^[26] Peter Jay (1913–2000), Sybil Kane (née Jay) Waldron (1914–1997),^[27][28] Theodora Moran (née Jay) Stillman Rahv (1918–1968),^[29] Augusta (née Jay) Huffman (1921–2000),^[30][31] and Katharine Archer Morgan (née Jay) Bacon (1928–2013).^[32]

References

Notes

1. The brother of Elizabeth Sarah Morgan (1889–1975) was Edwin D. Morgan Jr. (1890–1954), who married Elizabeth Winthrop (née Emmet) Morgan (1897–1934), a daughter of C. Temple Emmet^[17] and Alida Beekman (née Chanler) Emmet (also an Astor family descendant).^[18] Through Elizabeth Sarah Morgan's brother Edwin and his wife Elizabeth, she was an aunt to Edwin D. Morgan III,^[19] husband of Nancy Marie Whitney (a daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and Marie Norton Harriman).^[20]

Sources

1. Burke, Arthur Meredyth (1991). The Prominent Families of the United States of America. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-8063-1308-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
2. Lamb, Martha Joanna; Harrison, Mrs Burton (1880). History of the City of New York: The century of national independence, closing in 1880. A.S. Barnes. p. 401. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
3. "OBITUARY". The Triweekly Washington Sentinel. 15 November 1855. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
4. "Deaths". Brooklyn Evening Star. 1 November 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
5. "AUGUSTUS JAY DIES AFTER LONG ILLNESS; Was Great-Grandson of the First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court". The New York Times. 27 December 1919. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
6. "MRS. AUGUSTUS JAY DIES IN 79TH YEAR; Widow of Diplomat Whose Ancestor, John Jay, Was First Chief Justice of U.S. LONG A SOCIETY LEADER | Descended From Gov. Langdon of New Hampshire, Revolutionary Soldier, and John Jacob Astor". The New York Times. 15 December 1932. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
7. Yarnall, James L. (2005). Newport Through Its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern. University Press of New England. p. 207. ISBN 978-1-58465-491-9. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
8. "COL. KANE'S WILL PROBATED; Personal Estate Is About $65,000 – His Widow Chief Beneficiary". The New York Times. 11 May 1915. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
9. Patten, Bill (2008). My Three Fathers: And the Elegant Deceptions of My Mother, Susan Mary Alsop. PublicAffairs. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7867-2171-9. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
10. Mackenzie, George Norbury (1917). Colonial Families of the United States of America: In which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families who Settled in the American Colonies from the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. Grafton Press. pp. 304–305. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
11. "PETER A. JAY DEAD; LONG A DIPLOMAT; Descendant of the First Chief Justice of U. S. an Ambas- sador to Argentina". The New York Times. 19 October 1933. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
12. "Peter Augustus Jay – People – Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
13. "PETER A. JAY WEDS MISS SUSAN M'COOK; Notable Assemblage Present at Ceremony in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. BRIDEGROOM A DIPLOMAT First Secretary of Our Legation at Tokio -- Bride Eldest Daughter of Col. J.J. McCook". The New York Times. 17 March 1909. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
14. Times, Special to The New NOK (28 March 1941). "DE LANCEY K. JAY, EX-DIPLOMAT, DIES; Descendant of the First Chief Justice of United States Stricken in Westbury WON D.S.C. IN WORLD WAR Helped Organize "Plattsburg Movement" An Astor One of Early Forebears". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
15. "MISS MORGAN TO WED; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Morgan to be Bride of De Lancey K. Jay". The New York Times. 25 January 1910. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
16. "JAY--MORGAN". The New York Times. 5 May 1910. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
17. "C. Temple Emmet, Skier, lawyer, 89" (PDF). The New York Times. July 25, 1957. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
18. "MRS. E. D. MORGAN OF WESTBURY DIES; Descendant of Thormas Emmet, Irish Patriot, and First John Jacob Astor, WAS A PORTRAIT PAINTER Her Work Was Exhibited in a Gallery Here – She Was a Member of Colony Club" (PDF). The New York Times. February 9, 1934. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
19. Staff (July 3, 2001). "Edwin D. Morgan, 80, Businessman Who Befriended Writers in Paris". The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
20. "Quiet Whitney Wedding" (PDF). The New York Times. March 2, 1923. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
21. Times, Special to The New York (27 January 1920). "JAY ESTATE GOES TO FAMILY; Will Filed in Newport Leaves Half to Widow and Half to Sons". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
22. "JAY ESTATE $1,027,829.; Robes and Portrait of Chief Justice Among the Bequests". The New York Times. 24 May 1921. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
23. "MRS. JAY LEFT $450,000.; Will Filed at Newport Names Sons, Peter and Delancey, Legatees". The New York Times. 23 December 1932. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
24. "P.A. JAY ESTATE $737,060.; Only a Fraction of Sum Diplomat Left Taxable in This State". The New York Times. 22 November 1934. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
25. L, Zach (July 31, 2009). "When 'Wheatly' Was For Sale". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
26. "Elizabeth Etnier, 80, An Author, Is Dead". The New York Times. 12 June 1991. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
27. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (14 February 1937). "WEDDING IN CHAPEL FOR SYBIL KANE JAY; Daughter of Westbury Couple Is Married to Francis P. Kinnicutt of New York RECEPTION HELD AT HOME Ceremony Performed on Estate of Bride's Grandmother, Mrs. Edwin D. Morgan". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
28. "Paid Notice: Deaths WALDRON, SYBIL KANE JAY". The New York Times. 23 December 1997. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
29. Bloom, Alexander (1986). Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals & Their World. Oxford University Press. p. 377. ISBN 978-0-19-505177-3. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
30. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (25 November 1945). "AUGUSTA JAY BRIDE OF NAVAL OFFICER; Descendant of the First Chief Justice Married to Lieut. Comdr. Harold Huffman KIN OF ASTORS, LANGDONS Katherine Jay Attendant for Her Sister at Ceremony in Westbury, L.I., Chapel". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
31. "Augusta Jay Huffman". Oklahoman.com. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
32. "KATHARINE JAY "KITTY" BACON". The Boston Globe. March 12, 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

External links

• Augustus Jay at Find a Grave