Charles Cary Rumsey
Encyclopedia
Charles Cary Rumsey was an American
sculptor and an eight goal polo
player.
Born in Buffalo, New York
, Charles Rumsey was the son of Laurence Dana Rumsey, a successful local businessman. His mother, Jennie Cary Rumsey, was the sister of sculptor, Seward Cary. Young Charles learned to play polo at a young age from his uncle and friend, Devereux Millburn.
then studied art at the Boston Art School
before going to Paris
, France
to study at the École des Beaux-Arts
. He worked mainly in bronze
and had a fondness for equine figures that saw him create statues of the Thoroughbred
horses Hamburg
and Burgomaster for Harry Payne Whitney
, Good and Plenty
for Thomas Hitchcock
, and World Champion trotter
Nancy Hanks
for John E. Madden
. Among Rumsey's other works, he did a statue of Francisco Pizarro
erected in Trujillo, Spain
, the Brownsville War Memorial
in Brownsville, Brooklyn
, the "Three Graces Fountain" in Mirror Lake at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo
, and the controversial figure of a nude woman called "The Pagan." Perhaps his most celebrated work is the 1916 frieze
on the Manhattan Bridge
in New York City titled "Buffalo Hunt."
During the first decade of the 20th century, Charles Rumsey maintained an art studio
on 59th Street
in New York City
when he met Mary Harriman
, the daughter of railway magnate E. H. Harriman
. They both shared a love of horses and had first met at the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association
races on Long Island
. They married in 1910 and maintained a home in Brookville, New York
on Long Island where they raised three children.
During World War I
, Charles Rumsey served as a Captain with Headquarters Troop, 77th Infantry Division and Fortieth Engineers, United States Army Corps of Engineers
. His brother, Laurence Dana Rumsey, Jr. (1885–1967), was a pilot in the War with the famous Lafayette Escadrille
and Lafayette Flying Corps
.
On September 21, 1922, Charles Rumsey was a passenger in an automobile that crashed into a stone bridge abutment on the Jericho Turnpike
near Floral Park
on Long Island. He was thrown from the vehicle and died minutes later from his injuries.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor and an eight goal polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
player.
Born in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Charles Rumsey was the son of Laurence Dana Rumsey, a successful local businessman. His mother, Jennie Cary Rumsey, was the sister of sculptor, Seward Cary. Young Charles learned to play polo at a young age from his uncle and friend, Devereux Millburn.
Education and art career
Charles Rumsey graduated Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
then studied art at the Boston Art School
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
before going to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to study at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
. He worked mainly in bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
and had a fondness for equine figures that saw him create statues of the Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horses Hamburg
Hamburg (horse)
Hamburg was an American Thoroughbred race horse bred in Kentucky by James E. Kittson, brother to Norman W. Kittson who had been partners in Erdenheim Stud. His sire was the great Hanover by another great, Hindoo....
and Burgomaster for Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...
, Good and Plenty
Good and Plenty
For the candy, see Good & PlentyGood and Plenty was an American thoroughbred steeplechase racehorse.-History:Trained by Charles Kiernan, the bay gelding raced for four years between 1904 and 1907, leading all steeplechase horses in earnings and finishing with a record of 14-4-1 in 21 races that...
for Thomas Hitchcock
Thomas Hitchcock
-References:...
, and World Champion trotter
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...
Nancy Hanks
Nancy Hanks (horse)
Nancy Hanks was an undefeated Standardbred harness racing trotting mare named for Abraham Lincoln's mother.She was foaled in 1886 at Terre Haute, Indiana and was sired by Happy Medium, her dam Nancy Lee was by Dictator....
for John E. Madden
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden was a prominent AmericanThoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky and bred five Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners.He was inducted into the National...
. Among Rumsey's other works, he did a statue of Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru.-Early life:...
erected in Trujillo, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the Brownsville War Memorial
Zion Triangle
Zion Park is a small park in the Brownsville, Brooklyn section of Brooklyn, New York notable for the Brownsville War Memorial.The Memorial to the fallen of the First World War was created by sculptor Charles Cary Rumsey and dedicated in 1925...
in Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
, the "Three Graces Fountain" in Mirror Lake at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo
Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York was founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clark. It covers over 250 acres and over 152,000 are buried there. Notable graves include U.S. President Millard Fillmore, singer Rick James, and inventor Lawrence Dale Bell...
, and the controversial figure of a nude woman called "The Pagan." Perhaps his most celebrated work is the 1916 frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
on the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
in New York City titled "Buffalo Hunt."
During the first decade of the 20th century, Charles Rumsey maintained an art studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
on 59th Street
59th Street (Manhattan)
59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
when he met Mary Harriman
Mary Harriman Rumsey
Mary Harriman Rumsey was the founder of The Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, later known as the Junior League of the City of New York of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. Mary was the daughter of railroad magnate, E.H. Harriman and sister to W...
, the daughter of railway magnate E. H. Harriman
E. H. Harriman
Edward Henry Harriman was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Harriman was born in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman, an Episcopal clergyman, and Cornelia Neilson...
. They both shared a love of horses and had first met at the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association
Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association
Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association was a racing group on Long Island created on May 1, 1897. In 1914 their race was held on the property of Harry Payne Whitney....
races on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. They married in 1910 and maintained a home in Brookville, New York
Brookville, New York
The Village of Brookville is a village located within the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 3,465....
on Long Island where they raised three children.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Charles Rumsey served as a Captain with Headquarters Troop, 77th Infantry Division and Fortieth Engineers, United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. His brother, Laurence Dana Rumsey, Jr. (1885–1967), was a pilot in the War with the famous Lafayette Escadrille
Lafayette Escadrille
The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...
and Lafayette Flying Corps
Lafayette Flying Corps
The Lafayette Flying Corps is a name used to describe the American volunteer pilots who flew for the French during World War I. It includes the pilots who flew with the bona fide Lafayette Escadrille squadron. The estimations of number of pilots range from 180 to over 300. The generally accepted...
.
On September 21, 1922, Charles Rumsey was a passenger in an automobile that crashed into a stone bridge abutment on the Jericho Turnpike
New York State Route 25
New York State Route 25 is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends for just over from east midtown Manhattan in New York City to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal at Orient Point on the end of Long Island's North Fork...
near Floral Park
Floral Park, New York
Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island. The population as of the US Census of 2010 is 15,863. The village is at the western border of Nassau County, and is located in both the Town of Hempstead and the Town of North Hempstead...
on Long Island. He was thrown from the vehicle and died minutes later from his injuries.