Rufus King Delafield

Rufus King Delafield
Born	Template:Birth date New York City, U.S.
Died	February 6, 1874(1874-02-06) (aged 71)
Occupation(s)	Financier, industrialist
Years active	1823–circa 1874
Known for	Banking career; founder and president of Delafield & Baxter Hydraulic Cement Company

Rufus King Delafield (November 18, 1802 – February 6, 1874) was a prominent American financier and industrialist.

Early life

Born on November 18, 1802, at his father’s home located at 16 Wall Street in New York City, Delafield was named in honor of Rufus King, New York’s inaugural U.S. Senator who was serving as U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom at that time. His godfather was none other than Alexander Hamilton. He was the youngest child among nine brothers and four sisters born to Anne (née Hallett) Delafield (1766–1839) and John Delafield (1748–1824), an English-born merchant who immigrated in 1788 and became a founding director of the Mutual Insurance Company, accumulating considerable wealth. The family’s summer estate, "Sunswick," constructed in 1791 along the East River opposite Blackwell's Island, ranked among the largest private residences near New York City.

His siblings included notable figures such as John Delafield, Joseph Delafield, Henry Delafield, William Delafield, Maj. Gen. Richard Delafield, and Dr. Edward Delafield. His younger sister Susan Maria Delafield wed Henry Parish. A portrait featuring Rufus alongside his father and brothers was painted by Morton H. Bly and is currently held by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

On his maternal side, his grandparents were Joseph Hallett and Elizabeth (née Hazard) Hallett; his aunt Mary Hallett married U.S. Representative Benjamin Tallmadge. Paternally, his grandparents were John Delafield and Martha (née Dell) Delafield from Buckinghamshire, England. Among his nephews was Dr. Francis Delafield, who married Katherine Van Rensselaer and fathered Connecticut legislator Edward Henry Delafield.

Career

Following his education in New York, Delafield embarked on a career in commerce, initially holding an officer position at the Phenix Bank between 1823 and 1835. Subsequently, he served as actuary and secretary at the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company—which later became known as Citibank—from 1835 until 1852. Additionally, he acted as a trustee for the State Agricultural College of New York.

After retiring from banking, he established and led the Delafield & Baxter Hydraulic Cement Company based in High Falls, New York, situated on the banks of Rondout Creek. This enterprise evolved from Ogden & Delafield and operated multiple water-powered mills alongside several quarries to produce Rosendale cement. The company maintained its headquarters at 54 Pine Street in New York City. His son Henry Parish Delafield fulfilled the role of secretary, while following Rufus’s passing, his eldest son Edward assumed the presidency.

Personal life

Delafield married Eliza Bard (1813–1902) of Hyde Park, New York on November 8, 1836. She was the daughter of William Bard, founder and first president of the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company. Her family included distinguished individuals such as John Bard, founder of Bard College. Together they had seven children:

• Edward Delafield (1837–1884), affiliated with the New York Stock Exchange, who married Elizabeth Remsen Schuchardt.
• William Bard Delafield (1838–1863), who remained unmarried.
• Rufus King Delafield Jr. (1840–1861), died single during the course of the U.S. Civil War.
• Henry Parish Delafield (1842–1904), who married first Elizabeth Blake Moran and subsequently Marguerite Marie Dewey.
• Bertram DeNully Delafield (1844–1865), who died unmarried due to an accidental hunting firearm injury.
• Catherine Cruger Delafield (1847–1926), wife of John Tonnelé Hall; Hall’s lineage connected to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
• Richard Delafield (1853–1930), married Clara (née Foster) Carey and later Edith Pauline Fesser; he founded Delafield & Company with offices spanning New York, Chicago, and San Francisco focused on Pacific coast commodities.

The family owned a country estate located in New Brighton, Staten Island, which today serves as the site of the Staten Island Cricket Club.

Rufus King Delafield passed away on February 6, 1874, at his son-in-law John T. Hall’s residence in New York City. His funeral took place at Trinity Church (Manhattan), after which he was laid to rest in the family mausoleum at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

Descendants

His eldest son Edward fathered Rufus Delafield (born 1863), who wed Elizabeth Breeze Morse, daughter of Sidney Morse, in 1886. Additionally, Edward was the father of Massachusetts legislator Frederick Schuchardt Delafield (1865–1935), who married Anne Oakley Brooks (1872–1941), daughter of Frederick W. Brooks, in 1894.

From his daughter Catherine came Elsie Bard Hall (1873–1932), who never married; Suzette Tonnelé Hall (1875–1929), who became the wife of Bryce Metcalf in 1905; and Katharine Cruger Delafield Hall (1879–1920), who married W. S. Groesbeck Fowler, the grandson of William S. Groesbeck, in 1910.

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