Harry Coster

Coster was the son of Daniel Joachim Coster and Julia (née DeLancey) Coster (1806–1890),{{cite news |title=DIED. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1890/10/03/103269275.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=October 3, 1890}} who married in 1835 and lived at 234 West 14th Street. His father became a member of the auction firm of Hone & Coster.{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=Walter |title=The Old Merchants of New York City |date=1864 |publisher=Carleton |pages=190–199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IR2YOYMplbMC&pg=PA198 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} They established the family estate in Westchester (which became part of the Bronx in 1895).{{cite news |last1=Twomey |first1=Bill |title=Do You Remember |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2008/30/doc48876b2ca6504371321763.html |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=Bronx Times |date=July 25, 2008}}

His paternal grandparents were Catherine Margaret (née Holsman) Coster and John Gerard Coster,{{cite book |last1=Townsend |first1=Annette |title=The Auchmuty family of Scotland and America. |date=1932 |publisher=The Grafton Press |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/auchmutyfamilyof00town/page/257 257]–260 |url=https://archive.org/details/auchmutyfamilyof00town |access-date=January 6, 2019}} who came to the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War from Haarlem in the Netherlands and founded the family fortune with his brother through the mercantile firm, "Henry A. & John G. Coster", and died in 1844.{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Richard Henry |last2=Stiles |first2=Henry Reed |last3=Dwight |first3=Melatiah Everett |last4=Morrison |first4=George Austin |last5=Mott |first5=Hopper Striker |last6=Totten |first6=John Reynolds |last7=Pitman |first7=Harold Minot |last8=Forest |first8=Louis Effingham De |last9=Ditmas |first9=Charles Andrew |last10=Mann |first10=Conklin |last11=Maynard |first11=Arthur S. |title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record |date=1919 |publisher=New York Genealogical and Biographical Society |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdgUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA305 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} His grandparents had twelve children that married into many prominent families including the Schermerhorns and Heckshers. His paternal uncles included Gerard H. Coster who married Matilda Prime (a daughter of banker Nathaniel Prime), George Washington Coster who married Elizabeth Oakey (a daughter of merchant Daniel Oakey),{{cite web |title=THE COSTER FAMILY SET OF SEVEN CLASSICAL CARVED MAHOGANY CURULE-BASE DINING CHAIRS , ATTRIBUTED TO DUNCAN PHYFE (1768-1854), NEW YORK, 1810-1820 |url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/the-coster-family-set-of-seven-classical-6055582-details.aspx |website=www.christies.com |publisher=Christie's |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} and his aunt was Georgiana Louisa Coster, who married Charles August Heckscher. Among his many first cousins was Charles Henry Coster and John Gerard Heckscher.{{cite book |last1=Weeks |first1=Lyman Horace |title=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 |date=1897 |publisher=The Historical company |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/prominentfamilie00week/page/n5 |access-date=January 6, 2019}}

His maternal grandfather was Oliver Delancey of the Delancey family,{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Coster's grandfather, Oliver Delancey, was the son of Peter Delancey and the grandson of Huguenot immigrant and merchant Stephen Delancey. His grandfather was also the brother-in-law of Thomas Henry Barclay,{{cite DCB |last=Tulloch |first=Judith |title=Barclay, Thomas Henry |volume=6 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/barclay_thomas_henry_6E.html}} and the nephew of Lt. Gov. of New York James DeLancey and British Army Brig. Gen. Oliver Delancey and the maternal grandson of Cadwallader Colden, the Colonial Governor of New York.{{cite book |title=Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year ... |date=1928 |publisher=New-York Historical Society |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRs8AAAAIAAJ |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}}}} which was one of the oldest families in New York state. His paternal uncles included Daniel Delancey and John Delancey, who later owned part of the Coster Estate in Westchester.

File:Home for the Incurables, Fordham, Bronx.jpg, Fordham, Bronx]]

In 1892, Coster was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.{{cite news|last1=McAllister|first1=Ward|title=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.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/02/16/108210917.pdf|access-date=March 26, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=February 16, 1892|language=en}} Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.{{cite book|last1=Keister|first1=Lisa A.|title=Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521536677|page=[https://archive.org/details/gettingrichameri0000keis/page/36 36]|url=https://archive.org/details/gettingrichameri0000keis|url-access=registration|access-date=October 20, 2017|language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Patterson |first1=Jerry E. |title=The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age |date=2000 |publisher=Random House Incorporated |isbn=9780847822089 |page=212 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLwMAAAAYAAJ |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} Coster was a member of the St. Nicholas Society.{{cite news |title=LEADER IN NEW YORK SOCIETY, SOON TO MARRY CLUBMAN |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/29003608 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 17, 1913 |page=11 |language=en}}

The Coster's spent their summers in Newport, Rhode Island.{{cite news |title=People and Social Incident |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/469244333 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=New-York Tribune |date=September 1, 1910 |page=6 |language=en}} His wife, who was prominent in society in Boston before their marriage, Mary served as vice-president of the Home for Incurables in Fordham.

On December 6, 1866,{{cite web |title=NYC Marriage & Death Notices 1857-1868 |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/collection/nyc-marriage-death-notices-1857-1868 |website=www.nysoclib.org |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=January 13, 2019}} Coster was married to Mary Lee Coles ({{Circa|1842}}–1922).{{cite news |title=Mrs. Henry A. Coster Dead {{!}} Funeral To-morrow From St. James's Church |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18472708/mary_lee_coles_coster_obituary/ |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=New York Herald |date=November 23, 1922 |page=11}} She was the daughter of Isaac Underhill Coles and Martha Ellery (née Jones) Coles, who married in Boston in July 1823.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Mary's mother, Martha Ellery (née Jones) Coles was the youngest daughter of John Coffin Jones Sr. (1750–1829), the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Martha's older brother was John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796–1861), the first U.S. Consul to the Kingdom of Hawaii, and her older sister was Margaret Champlin Jones (1792–1848), who married Benjamin Underhill Coles, her husband's brother.{{cite book |last1=Assembly |first1=New York (State) Legislature |title=Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York |date=1898 |publisher=E. Croswell |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUE8AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA265 |access-date=January 7, 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Kenslea |first1=Timothy |title=The Sedgwicks in Love: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage in the Early Republic |date=2006 |publisher=UPNE |isbn=9781584654940 |page=199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBrUERS0B38C&pg=PA199 |access-date=January 7, 2019 |language=en}}}}{{cite book |title=The Manifesto Church: Records of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, with Lists of Communicants, Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals, 1699-1872 |date=1902 |publisher=Benevolent Fraternity of Churches |page=[https://archive.org/details/manifestochurch00massgoog/page/n350 274] |url=https://archive.org/details/manifestochurch00massgoog |access-date=January 7, 2019 |language=en}} Her sister, Grace Coles was married to Edward Templeton Snelling.{{cite book |last1=Dwight |first1=Benjamin Woodbridge |title=The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass |date=1871 |publisher=J. Munsell |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MGRmAAAAMAAJ/page/n714 631] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MGRmAAAAMAAJ |access-date=January 7, 2019 |language=en}} They lived in New York at 2 East 41st Street{{cite journal |title=Saunterings |journal=Town Topics |date=December 28, 1893 |volume=X| issue = 26 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TuFNAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA25-PA6 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |publisher=Town Topics Publishing Company |language=en}} and at their country home, known as "St. Adresse", in Westchester County, New York. Together, Harry and Mary were the parents of:

• Martha Ellery Coster (d. 1955),{{cite news |title=DIED |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/04/07/93800689.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=April 7, 1955 |language=en}} who married Frederick S. Wombwell, a British citizen living in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1923.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|At the wedding, Martha's brother Oliver walked her down the aisle, Frederick's best man was his brother Carlisle Wombwell, and Edward Coster Wilmerding (sister of Georgiana Wilmerding) and Harry H. Benkard were their ushers.}}{{cite news |title=MISS COSTER WEDS F. S. WOMBWELL; Daughter of Late Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Coster Married in St. James's Church |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1923/11/28/106021744.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=November 23, 1923 |language=en}} After their marriage, they lived at 103 East 75th Street.
• Oliver de Lancey Coster ({{Circa|1872}}–1947),{{cite news |title=Oliver Coster; 75, Realty Executive; Pease & Elliman Official 48 Years Dies {{!}} A Descendant of Prominent Families |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/07/12/87783809.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=July 12, 1947 |language=en}} who married Mary E. (née Coppell) Booth (1869–1937),{{cite news |title=MRS. OLIVER COSTER, WIFE OF REALTY MAN; Father Was British Consul at New Orleans During Civil War--Dies at Home |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/04/24/94359749.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=April 24, 1937 |language=en}} the widow of Edgar Hetfield Booth, in 1913.{{cite news |title=MRS. BOOTH WEDS OLIVER DEL. COSTER {{!}} Ceremony at Tenafly Church, Followed by Reception at Home of the Misses Coppell. {{!}} A FULL CHORAL SERVICE {{!}} With Part of Garden City Cathedral Choir -- Bride Formerly Miss Koppell of 40 Fifth Avenue.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/06/24/100630977.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 24, 1913}} Her father, George Coppell, was the British Consul at New Orleans during the U.S. Civil War.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Coppell, who lived at 40 Fifth Avenue and The Towers in Tenafly, was also the namesake of Coppell, Texas. Mary's first husband was the wealthy Edgar Hetfield Booth (1861–1904).{{cite news |title=DIED |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/03/08/120266291.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=March 8, 1904}}}} They lived at Keewaydin in Tenafly, New Jersey. After Mary's death in 1937, Oliver remarried to Pauline Cory in 1939.{{cite news |title=COSTER -- DANSEY |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/07/13/94702166.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=July 13, 1939 |language=en}}

Coster died at his country home in Westchester on November 2, 1917.{{cite news |title=DIED. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/11/04/113303767.pdf |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=November 4, 1917}} His widow, who had a summer home in Southampton, New York known as "Wee Cot",{{cite book |title=Social Register, Summer |date=1920 |publisher=Social Register Association |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5VIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA67 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} died in November 1922 at her residence, 50 East 81st Street, which she inherited from her husband.{{cite news |title=WIFE GETS COSTER ESTATE {{!}} Residence in East 81st Street is Valued at $50,000 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/466268118 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |work=New York Herald |date=August 15, 1918 |page=7 |language=en}} Her funeral was held at St. James' Episcopal Church on Madison Avenue and she was buried alongside her husband at the Coster family vault in the churchyard of St. Peters' Church in the Village of Westchester (which is now the East Bronx).

After Coster's death, his children auctioned off his estate with the Parish of St. Benedict's purchasing the family mansion in 1929 who used it as a schoolhouse until the Coster Mansion was torn down in 1930 and a new school was built in its place on Edison Avenue.{{cite web |title=Parish History |url=https://stbenedictchurchny.org/parish-history |website=stbenedictchurchny.org |publisher=St. Benedict's |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}} To this day, St. Benedict's School stands on the same site.

;Notes

{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

;Sources

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coster, Harry}}

Category:1840s births

Category:1917 deaths

Category:American people of Dutch descent