Pierre Lorillard IV

Pierre Lorillard IV

Sketch, c. 1888
Born (1833-10-13)October 13, 1833
Westchester, New York
Died July 7, 1901(1901-07-07) (aged 67)
Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Resting place Green-Wood Cemetery
Occupation Businessman, Racehorse owner/breeder
Known for Tuxedo Club
Board member of P. Lorillard and Company
Spouse(s) Emily Taylor
(m. 1858; his death 1901)
Children Emily Lorillard
Pierre Lorillard V
Nathaniel Griswold Lorillard
Maude Louise Lorillard
Parent(s) Pierre Lorillard III
Catherine Griswold
Relatives Louis Lorillard (brother)
George L. Lorillard (brother)
Peter Hill Beard (grandson)

Pierre Lorillard IV (October 13, 1833 – July 7, 1901) was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner.[1]

Early life

Born in Westchester, New York, he was the son of Pierre Lorillard III (1796–1867) and Catherine Griswold. In 1760, his great-grandfather, and namesake, founded P. Lorillard and Company in New York City to process tobacco, cigars, and snuff. Today, Lorillard Tobacco Company is the oldest tobacco company in the U.S.

Life

In the early 1880s, Lorillard helped make Newport, Rhode Island a yachting center with his schooner Vesta and a steam yacht Radha. He owned a summer estate in Newport called "The Breakers", which he sold to Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1882 in order to use his newly developed estate, the Tuxedo Club, at what became known as Tuxedo Park in Orange County, New York. Lorillard had inherited 13,000 acres (53 km²) around Tuxedo Lake, which he developed in conjunction with William Waldorf Astor and other wealthy associates into a luxury retreat. Lorillard hired famed architect Bruce Price to design his clubhouse and the many "cottages" of the era along with landscape architect Arthur P. Kroll, in 1929. Lorillard was also a member of the Jekyll Island Club, also known as The Millionaires Club, and the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York.

While it has been reported that Lorillard's son, Griswold Lorillard, introduced the then-unnamed tuxedo to the United States in 1886 at the Tuxedo Club's Autumn Ball, this is now known to be incorrect. While Griswold and his friends did create a stir by wearing unorthodox clothing, their jackets were closer to tailcoats without tails, or what would now be called a mess jacket.[2]

Thoroughbred racing

An avid sportsman, Pierre Lorillard and his brother, George Lyndes Lorillard, were both major figures in thoroughbred horse racing. In 1874, Pierre's horse, Saxon, won the Belmont Stakes. Although his horse Parole finished fourth in the 1876 Kentucky Derby, it went on to race with considerable success both in the United States and in Europe. In the 19th century, shipping horses from New York to Louisville, Kentucky was a major undertaking and as the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes were both held in the New York City area in the period, neither of the Lorillard brothers entered horses again in the Kentucky Derby. Pierre Lorillard established Rancocas Stable, named for the New Jersey town where he owned a country house. He spent time in Paris and in England where, in 1881, his horse Iroquois became the first American-owned and bred horse to win a European classic race. Ridden by the champion English jockey Fred Archer, Iroquois won the Epsom Derby and then went on to capture the St. Leger Stakes as well. Lorillard had other successes in England, notably with the horse named for the actor David Garrick, which won the 1901 Chester Cup ridden by American jockey, Danny Maher.

Exploration

Beyond his interest in racehorses, Lorillard was a scholar who financed the Central American expedition of the French archaeologist Désiré Charnay and his publication of "The Ancient Cities of the New World. Being Travels and Explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857–1882."[3] For making the project possible, the government of France awarded Lorillard the Legion of Honor. Charnay named some Maya ruins "Lorillard City" in his honor, but the name did not stick, and the site is better known as Yaxchilan. Lorillard also helped finance some of the explorations of Augustus Le Plongeon.[4]

Personal life

In 1858, Lorillard married Emily Taylor (1840–1925), the daughter of Isaac Ebenezer Taylor (b. 1815) and Eliza Mary Mollan Taylor (d. 1867). Together, they had four children:

Pierre Lorillard died in 1901, aged 67, and was interred in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.[14] His wife Emily died in 1925 and was interred next to him.[15]

Lorillard Place in The Bronx is named for him and his brother George.

Descendants

He is the step-grandfather of the artist Peter Hill Beard.

Through his daughter's second marriage, Lorillard is an ancestor of the present Baron Revelstoke and of the heir apparent to the earldom of Oxford and Asquith.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "PIERRE LORILLARD DEAD; Famous in Society, in Commerce, and in the World of Sport. First American to Win the English Derby -- Other Triumphs on the Turf in Both Hemispheres.". The New York Times. 8 July 1901. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Black Tie Guide | History: Origins at www.blacktieguide.com
  3. ↑  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Charnay, Claude Joseph Désiré". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 947.
  4. ↑ Christina Bueno, The Pursuit of Ruins: Archeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2016, p. 29.
  5. ↑ "KENT--LORILLARD.; MARRIAGE OF EMILY LORILLARD TO WILLIAM KENT.". The New York Times. 1 May 1881. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. ↑ 1936, National Photo News (7 August 1940). "PIERE LORILLARD DIES IN TUXEDO, 80; Retired Head of Tobacco Firm Was Son of the Founder of Famous Park Colony FIFTH TO BEAR THE NAME Carried On Tradition in Sport of Father, First American to Win the Derby". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "Obituary 5". The New York Times. 9 August 1940. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "NATHANIEL G. LORILLARD DEAD.". The New York Times. 5 November 1888. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Obituary 2". The New York Times. 4 April 1922. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "Wedded Before Many Friends; Miss Maud Lorillard Becomes Mrs. T. Suffern Tailer. Dr. Satterlee Performs a Simple Ceremony in Calvary Church—Wedding Breakfast at the Lorillard Residence—Showered with Rice as They left the House—One Hundred Thousand Dollars' Worth of Presents—To Spend a Few Months at the World's Fair and Then to go Abroad." The New York Times April 16, 1893. p. 10
  11. ↑ "SEPARATION REPORTED OF SUFFERN TAILERS; Wife Probably Will Ask Divorce, His Secretary Says in Washington.". The New York Times. 5 November 1933. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Mrs. M. L. Tailer's Wedding; Will Be, or Has Become, the Bride of the Hon. Cecil Baring, in London, It Is Said."The New York Times April 10, 1902. p. 9
  13. ↑ The 1st Baron's daughter Hon. Margaret Baring married the 6th Earl Spencer, and they were great-grandparents of Diana, Princess of Wales
  14. ↑ "HOW MR. LORILLARD DIVIDED HIS ESTATE; Bequest of Rancocas to a Woman Arouses His Family. CLUBMEN TALK OF A CONTEST Tuxedo Property Guarded by Strict Pro- visions -- The Widow's Annuity -- The Will Disposes of $4,000,000.". The New York Times. 14 July 1901. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  15. ↑ "MRS. PIERRE LORILLARD DIES IN MONROE HOME; Widow of. Tobacco Capitalist and Sportsman to Be Buried From Grace Church Chantry.". The New York Times. 12 September 1925. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
Sources
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