Stuyvesant Fish

Stuyvesant Fish (June 24, 1851 – April 10, 1923) was an American businessman and member of the Fish family who served as president of the Illinois Central Railroad. He owned grand residences in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island, entertained lavishly and, along with his wife "Mamie", became prominent in American high society during the Gilded Age. Early life and ancestry Stuyvesant Fish was born on June 24, 1851, in New York City. He was the third son of Hamilton Fish (1808–1893), the 16th Governor of New York, a United States senator and United States Secretary of State who is recognized as the "pillar" of the Grant Administration and considered one of the best U.S. Secretaries of State by scholars. His mother was Julia Ursin Niemcewicz Kean (1816–1887), a descendant of New Jersey governor William Livingston. His parents' marriage has been described as a happy one, and his mother was known for her "sagacity and judgement". His father was named after his grandfather's friend, Alexander Hamilton. Fish had two older brothers, Nicholas Fish II (1846–1902) and Hamilton Fish II (1849–1936), and five sisters, Sarah Morris Fish (1838–1925), Julia Kean Fish (1841–1908), Susan LeRoy Fish (1844–1909), and Edith Livingston Fish (1856–1887). His paternal grandparents were Nicholas Fish (1758–1833) and Elizabeth Stuyvesant (a great-great-granddaughter of Peter Stuyvesant). Nicholas Fish was a leading Federalist politician and notable figure of the American Revolutionary War who was active in the Yorktown Campaign that resulted in the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. Peter Stuyvesant was a prominent founder of New York, then a Dutch Colony, and his family owned much property in Manhattan. Fish graduated from Columbia College in Manhattan where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall.