John Gerard Coster (August 1762 – August 8, 1844) was a Dutch-American merchant who served as president of the Bank of the Manhattan Company.

Early life

Coster was born in August 1762 in Haarlem, Holland. He was a son of John Henry Coster (d. 1776) and Anna Catherine (née Vienecke).[1]

He was educated to be a physician under the tutelage of his brother Haro who was a well-know physician in the British Navy.[2]

Career

Washington Hall 1809-1844

After briefly living in Demerara in the West Indies,[3] Coster came to the United States from Haarlem in the Netherlands shortly after the Revolutionary War and founded the family fortune with his brother through the mercantile firm, "Henry A. & John G. Coster".[4] They became owners of numerous vessels and traded with the East and West Indies, and exported American commodities to Europe.[4]

In 1809, Coster financed the building of Washington Hall, a hotel, banquet hall, and restaurant that served as an early meeting place and headquarters for the Washington Benevolent Society, a semi-secret association that was an electoral arm of the Federalist Party.[5]

In 1813, he was made a director of Bank of the Manhattan Company, which had been founded by Aaron Burr in 1799.[4] In 1825, Coster was made president of the Manhattan Company, succeeding Henry Remsen upon his death. Coster was also a director of the Phoenix Insurance Company for many years.[6]

Personal life

Coster was married to Catherine Margaret Holsman (c. 1778–1847).[1] Together, they lived in a house which he built at 539 Broadway, north of Canal Street, which was considered "one of the finest residences in New York."[4] It was built by two of the most well-known architects of the day, Alexander Jackson David and Ithiel Town.[7] They were the parents of twelve children, many of whom married into many prominent families including the Schermerhorns and Heckshers.,[4] including:[8]

  • John Henry Coster, who married Adeline Boardman.[1]
  • Maria Margaret Coster (1798–1835), who married Edwin Upshur Berryman.[1] Maria died the night of the great fire in NYC. Her husband died a few years later. Their orphaned daughters lived with Henry Coster and the boys moved to KY.
  • Daniel Joachim Coster (b.1804(, who married Julia DeLancey (1806–1890), a daughter of Oliver DeLancey and great grand-daughter of Delancey.[9]
  • Gerard Holsman Coster (b. 1808), who married Matilda Prime, a daughter of banker Nathaniel Prime.[1]
  • Henrietta Taletta Coster[1]
  • Georgiana Louisa Coster (1815–1890), who married Charles August Heckscher.[4]
  • Julia Christiana Coster (b. 1816), who married Jérôme Napoléon Frédéric Reubell (1809–1874),[1] a son of Gen. Jean-Jacques Reubell and grandson of Louis Pascault, Marquis de Poleon, in 1840.[10]
  • George Washington Coster, who married Elizabeth Oakey, a daughter of merchant Daniel Oakey.[11]
  • Henry Arnold Coster (b. 1820)[1]
  • Charles Robert Coster[1]
  • Alfred Jacob Coster[1]
  • Rutgers Eugene Coster[1]

J G Coster died on August 8, 1844.[4]

Descendants

Through his son Daniel, he was a grandfather of Harry Coster, an American clubman who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.[12]

Through his daughter Julia, he was a grandfather of Henrietta Reubell (c. 1849–1924),[13] who was a prominent figure in Paris society known for hosting a lively salon at her apartment at 42 avenue Gabriel, including James McNeill Whistler, Oscar Wilde, Edith Wharton, and Henry James.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Townsend, Annette (1932). The Auchmuty family of Scotland and America. New York: The Grafton Press. pp. 257–260. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "John Gerard Coster (1762-1844) - HouseHistree". househistree.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  3. ↑ "John Gerard Coster (1762-1844) - HouseHistree". househistree.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1919). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 305. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  5. ↑ www.literarymanhattan.org https://www.literarymanhattan.org/place/washington-hall/. Retrieved 2023-09-29. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Lamb, Martha Joanna (1883). Wall Street in History. New York: Funk and Wagnalls. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-59605-087-7. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Coster Mansion - HouseHistree". househistree.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  8. ↑ Weeks, Lyman Horace (1897). Prominent Families of New York; being an account in biographical form of individuals and families distinguished as representatives of the social, professional and civic life of New York city. New York: The Historical company. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  9. ↑ "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. October 3, 1890. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "CONBEYANCES. New York City" (PDF). Record and Guide. XLV (1144): 229, 251. February 18, 1890. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "THE COSTER FAMILY SET OF SEVEN CLASSICAL CARVED MAHOGANY CURULE-BASE DINING CHAIRS , ATTRIBUTED TO DUNCAN PHYFE (1768-1854), NEW YORK, 1810-1820". www.christies.com. Christie's. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  12. ↑ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  13. ↑ "Henrietta Reubell ca. 1884–85". www.metmuseum.org. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Fisher, Paul (2012). ""Her Smoking Was the Least of Her Freedoms": Henrietta Reubell, Miss Barrace, and the Queer Milieu of Henry James's Paris". The Henry James Review. 33 (3): 247–254. doi:10.1353/hjr.2012.0027. S2CID 161778059. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
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