William Bayard Cutting

William Bayard Cutting (January 12, 1850 – March 1, 1912),[1] a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. He was born to Fulton Cutting (1816–1875) and Elise Justine Bayard (1823–1852) and was the brother of financier Robert Fulton Cutting (1852-1934). He was trained at Columbia College, as a lawyer, in which capacity he assisted his grandfather, Robert Bayard, in the management of his railroad company. Cutting and his brother, Fulton, started the sugar beet industry in the United States in 1888. He was a builder of railroads, operated the ferries of New York City, and developed part of the south Brooklyn waterfront, Red Hook. He was an outdoorsman and a gardener of great ability. His grandfather, Robert Cutting, was Robert Fulton's partner[2] in the ferry from Brooklyn to New York, and Bayard Cutting continued to operate the ferry system of New York City and the city of Brooklyn.

On April 26, 1877, he married Olivia Peyton Murray (1855–1949), the daughter of Bronson Murray of Murray Hill, New York. They had four children:

His Long Island estate along the west bank of the Connetquot River, purchased from George L. Lorillard in 1884, and the country house called "Westbrook" which he built there, are now the Bayard Cutting Arboretum.[7][8]

He was also a member of the famous Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

Notes

  1. "W.B. CUTTING DIES ON TRAIN". New York Times. 2 Mar 1912. p. 1.
  2. Cutting and Fulton were brothers-in-law who had married Livingston sisters.
  3. The Peerage.com
  4. Cutting, Bronson Murray, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  5. "MISS CUTTING ONE OF BRIDES OF A DAY: DAUGHTER OF MRS. BAYARD CUTTING MARRIES HENRY JAMES OF ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE". New York Times. 12 June 1917. p. 13.
  6. citation needed
  7. Wealthy New York Businessmen Tid-bits, The History Box
  8. “Centre Island Revisited”, A History of the Gardens of the Ambassador's Residence, British Embassy, Washington, May 2, 2014.

External links