Samuel B. H. Vance

Samuel B. H. Vance (1814 – August 10, 1890) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party. As president of the New York City Board of Aldermen from 1873 to 1874, he briefly became Acting Mayor of New York City between the death of the elected mayor, William Havemeyer, on November 30, 1874, and the inauguration of his elected successor, William H. Wickham, on January 1, 1875.

Samuel B. H. Vance
Mayor of New York City Acting
In office November 30, 1874 – December 31, 1874
Preceded by	William Frederick Havemeyer
Succeeded by	William H. Wickham
Personal details
Born	1814 Pennsylvania
Died	August 10, 1890 Douglaston, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Augusta Blanche Hall

Early life

He was born in 1814 to a distinguished family in Pennsylvania.

Career

He served as a captain of volunteers in the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. In 1854, Vance began participating in a series of firms making gas and electric lighting fixtures in New York City, twice succeeding company presidents who had died. He was elected to the New York City Board of Education in 1860, and to the Board of Aldermen in 1871^[1] and was then chosen to be the latter's president on January 7, 1873, leading in turn to his one-month tenure as acting mayor in December 1874.

In 1885, he was one of three commissioners appointed by the New York Supreme Court to study surface transportation on lower Broadway between Union Square West and The Battery (what is now New York's Financial District). The commission recommended that, because of increased traffic and commercial density in this area, the Broadway Surface Railroad Company be granted a franchise to start and operate a horse (rather than cable) drawn line along this route.^[2] (While a horse-drawn line did start in 1885, a traction cable was installed eight years later.)

Personal life

Vance was married to Augusta Blanche Hall. They lived in a mansion at 30 West 57th Street. Together, they were the parents of:

• Nannie Mitchell Vance (1860–1912), who married John Ellis Roosevelt (1853–1939) in 1879.^[3] Although Vance was a Republican, the groom's father, Robert B. Roosevelt, was a former Democratic New York City alderman and congressman (and future ambassador) who was in turn an uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, the future mayoral candidate and president.

Vance died at his home in Douglaston, Long Island, shortly after midnight on August 10, 1890, at the age of 76. His widow died in Sayville, Long Island on June 19, 1901. They are buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.^[4][5][6]

Descendants

Through his daughter Nannie, Samuel Vance was the grandfather of:

• Anita Blanche "Pansy" Roosevelt (1882–1929),^[7][8] who reportedly was "ill from nervous prostration in a sanitarium in New York" in 1903.^[9]
• Gladys Roosevelt (1889–1926), who married Fairman Rogers Dick (1885–1976), son of Evans Rogers Dick, in 1913. Fairman's sister, Isabelle Mildred Dick (1884–1972) was married to Stuyvesant Fish Jr. (1883–1952), and stood up in the wedding of Gladys and Fairman.^[10] Gladys was killed in a horse riding accident at the Meadow Brook Hunt Club in 1926.^[11][12]
• Jean Schermerhorn Roosevelt (1891–1984),^[13] who married Philip James Roosevelt (1892–1941), a cousin and the son of Emlen Roosevelt, in 1925.^[14][15]

References

1. But could not take his seat without the physical enforcement of a court order displacing the previous Aldermen: see Exciting Scene in the Chamber of the Board of Aldermen, The New York Times, January 2, 1872, page 2, retrieved without charge on June 1, 2008
2. HORSE CARS IN BROADWAY; THE DECISION MADE BY THE COMMISSIONERS.FINDING THAT A RAILWAY IS NEEDED AND THAT IT SHOULD BE A HORSE CAR LINE,NOT A CABLE ROAD. The New York Times, Wednesday, March 13, 1885, page 8, retrieved without charge on June 1, 2008
3. "THE VANCE-ROOSEVELT WEDDING.; MR. JOHN E. ROOSEVELT UNITED TO MISS NANNIE MITCHELL VANCE--SOME OF THE PRESENTS" (PDF). The New York Times. February 20, 1879. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
4. "Burial Search". Green-Wood Cemetery. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
5. "The Burial of S. B. H. Vance". New York Times. August 15, 1890. p. 8.
6. "Death notice, Augusta Blanche Hay Vance" (PDF). New York Times. June 20, 1901.
7. "MRS. J.E. ROOSEVELT ESTATE; Valued at $25,000 and Goes to Her Two Daughters". The New York Times. 30 October 1912. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
8. Depew, Chauncey M. (October 20, 2013). Titled Americans, 1890: A list of American ladies who have married foreigners of rank. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781783660056. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
9. "Miss Pansy Roosevelt III". The New York Times. 6 January 1903. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
10. "Miss Gladys Roosevelt's Wedding" (PDF). New York Times. November 8, 1913. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
11. "Mrs. F.R. Dick Dies In Hunting Accident". New York Times. November 23, 1926. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
12. "MRS. DICK WILLS BULK OF ESTATE TO HUSBAND; Sister and Father Share Rest of Property of Woman Killed in Fall Off Horse". The New York Times. 9 November 1926. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
13. "Luncheon for Miss Jean Roosevelt". The New York Times. 22 December 1909. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
14. "Died. Philip James Roosevelt, 49". TIME. 1941-11-17. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
15. "untitled". Time. Time, Inc. 1925-05-18. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved 2008-05-17.

External links

• For Mitchell, Vance & Company, see New York's Great Industries by Richard Edwards (1884), reprinted in 1973 by Ayer Publishing, ISBN 0-405-05086-0, pages 96–97, free preview retrieved on June 1, 2008, from Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJi9P1eCf3MC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96, according to which Mitchell, Vance in 1884 had showrooms on Broadway and factories on Tenth Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets.
• The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson (Yale 1995, ISBN 0-300-05536-6)
• Obituary of Samuel B.H. Vance in The New York Times of Tuesday, August 12, 1890, retrieved without charge on June 1, 2008
• Miscellaneous articles from the free archives of The New York Times, 1861 to 1901, https://www.nytimes.com for details such as dates and party affiliations

Political offices
Preceded by William Frederick Havemeyer	Mayor of New York City (acting) 1874	Succeeded by William H. Wickham