Andrew Christian Zabriskie (May 30, 1853 – September 15, 1916)[1] was an American heir and real estate investor.
Early life
Zabriskie was born in New York City on May 30, 1853. He was the son of Sarah Jane (née Titus) Zabriskie (1822–1892) and Christian Andrew Zabriskie (1806–1879), who was prominent in Episcopal church circles in Bergen County, New Jersey.[2] His father never engaged in business, instead preferring the "quiet enjoyments of county life."[3]
His paternal grandparents were Mary (née Ryerson) Zabriskie, a direct descendant of Joris Jansen Rapelje,[4] and Andrew Christian Zabriskie, who was born in Paramus at the ancestral homestead.[5] Besides his father, his paternal uncles were Martin, John, and John Jacob Zabriskie,[a] all descended from Albrycht Zaborowski, who left Ducal Prussia after the Thirty Years' War, and came to New Amsterdam on the Dutch ship De Vos ship in 1662.[1] Through his paternal aunt, Matilda Mary (née Zabriskie) Greene, he was a first cousin of Alister Greene, who served as Zabriskie's best man at his 1895 wedding.[6] Through his uncle Martin,[b] he was also a first cousin of Eliot Zborowski, who married Margaret Astor Carey, a granddaughter of William Backhouse Astor, Sr.[7] His maternal grandparents were Captain William M. Titus, who served in the War of 1812, and Maria (née Gardner) Titus.[2]
Zabriskie was one of the largest real estate owners in New York City and devoted much of his time to managing the estate. His office was located at 52 Beaver Street in a building built by his grandfather, William M. Titus, on land once owned by his great-grandfather, Thomas Gardner, "a wealthy resident of Paramus, and who was somewhat eccentric in disposition."[2] He also served as president of the Bergen Turnpike, which was originally incorporated in 1802 with Colonel John Stevens as its first president.[2]
After joining the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society in 1874, he became a life member in 1894, served as third vice-president from 1880 to 1883 and then as first vice-president from 1884 to 1896, and lastly, the president for ten years beginning in 1896.[8] He resigned in protest in December 1904 (and was succeeded by Archer M. Huntington) following a financial crisis where he advocated for the merger of the Society with the New-York Historical Society, but was rejected by the membership.[8]
Military service
In 1873, he joined Company B of the 7th Regiment, N.Y.N.G. and served as Inspector of Rifle Practice for the 71st Regiment, where he served as Captain of Company C until his resignation in 1897.[1] He was known as Captain Zabriskie for the rest of his life.[2] Zabriskie donated a bronze trophy, known as the Zabriskie Trophy, "which is annually shot for by the various companies of the 71st Regiment."[3][9]
Political career
In Duchess County, he was a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee and chairman of the Duchess County Board of Supervisors.[1] In 1879, he served as treasurer of the Independent Republicans in the "revolt against Governor Cornell's reelection."[3]
Province Island, at 100 plus acres, was the largest island on Lake Memphramagog and was located mostly in Magog, Quebec, Canada with a few acres at the southern tip located in Newport, Vermont.[16] Around 1886, Zabriskie built a large mansion, a boathouse, and wharf on the Canadian side and the island was known as Zabriskie's Island.[17] Zabriskie kept his steam yachtDodo docked at the island.[17] In 1917, after his death, the island was bought by Benjamin Howard, father of Canadian Senator Charles Benjamin Howard and was renamed Howard's Island. Around 1968, the residence built by Zabriskie was demolished due to the cost of its maintenance.[18]
Zabriskie's daughter, Julia Zabriskie, in costume in 1915
In June 1895, Zabriskie was married to Frances Hunter (1866–1951) at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church.[6] Frances was the daughter of Juliana M. W. (née Zabriskie) Hunter and Charles Frederick Hunter, former president of the People's Bank of New York.[6] Frances' maternal grandparents were George Zabriskie and Susan Van Campen (née Romeyn) Zabriskie.[c][20] Together, were the parents of two children:[21]
Julia Romeyn Zabriskie (1897–1931),[22] a débutante who married Edward Powis Jones (1880–1927),[23][24] a Harvard Law School educated lawyer, in 1918.[25]
Christian Andrew Zabriskie (1899–1970),[26] a noted bibliophile and collector of art.[27] In 1937, he donated a Mortlake tapestry known as "The Seizure of Cassandra by Ajax from a set of The Horses", c. 1650-70 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[28]
On September 15, 1916, Zabriskie died at Blithewood, his country home in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.[32] He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His estate, consisting mainly of an estimated $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 of real estate, was left entirely to his widow.[33] After the death of his widow in 1951, Zabriskie's son donated 825 acres of the Blithewood estate, including its manor house, seven other houses, three barns, and two garages on the property, to Bard College,[19] in exchange for $1.[34] Today Blithewood is home to the Levy Economics Institute.[35]
^His uncle, Martin Zabriskie, changed his surname to the original Zborowski. His daughter, Anna, who married Charles de Montalbon, Baron de Fontenoy (or the Comte de Montsaulnin).[2]
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