Charles May Oelrichs

Charles May Oelrichs (August 27, 1858 – January 15, 1932) was an American broker and clubman who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Oelrichs was born on August 27, 1858, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of German-born Henry Ferdinand Oelrichs (1810–1875), a senior partner in the firm of Oelrichs & Lurman, and Julia Matilda (née May) Oelrichs (1819–1879), who was born in Washington, D.C. His siblings included Hermann Oelrichs, an agent of Norddeutsche Lloyd shipping who married Theresa Alice Fair, daughter of United States Senator and Comstock Lode millionaire James Graham Fair; and Henry Oelrichs (1856–1902). Upon his older brother's death in 1906, Charles inherited the bulk of his estate. Oelrichs was the grandson of Gesche Catharina (née Holler) Oelrichs and Johann Gerhard Oelrichs, a German merchant in Bremen. The Oelrichs came to America from Bremen around 1830. His grandfather later married a daughter of statesman Harrison Gray Otis. His maternal grandparents were Julia Matilda (née Slacum) May and Frederick May, who was a member of the May family, prominent in Virginia and Maryland during the American Revolutionary War.