Robert Goelet was a real estate developer 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...

 and a director of the Chemical National Bank. He had a house in New York, at 591 Fifth Avenue, and seasonal residences in Tuxedo Park

Tuxedo Park

Tuxedo Park may refer to:*Tuxedo Park, Missouri, a community now merged with Webster Groves, Missouri*Tuxedo Park, New York, U.S.**Tuxedo Park , listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, New York...

 and Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

. He was a member of exclusive New York Yacht Club

New York Yacht Club

The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...

, in addition to other fashionable clubs of the time.

Life and career

Robert Goelet was born on September 29, 1841 to Peter Goelet. The birth was in the family house at 5 State Street, overlooking the Battery

Battery Park

Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...

 in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. He graduated from Columbia College

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1860 and was subsequently admitted to the bar, but concentrated on managing the real estate of his father, Robert Goelet, and his unmarried uncle Peter, whose combined estates eventually came to him and his younger brother, Ogden.

Goelet married Sarah Ogden (1813–1879). After her death in 1879, he married Louise Warren, the daughter of George Henry Warren of New York, a prominent lawyer. With Henrietta he had a son, Robert Walton Goelet

Robert Walton Goelet

Robert Walton Goelet was a financier and real estate developer in New York City, who, at the time of his death, was one of the largest property owners in the city...

, who was born in 1880. His fifteen-year old daughter, Beatrice, immortalized as a child by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...

, died of pneumonia at the Fifth Avenue house on February 11, 1902.

His yacht Nahma

USS Nahma (SP-771)

USS Nahma , an armed yacht, was built by the Clydebank Engine and SB Co., Glasgow, Scotland in 1897; acquired by the United States Navy on free lease from Robert Walton Goelet on 21 June 1917 for use as a section patrol vessel and commissioned on 27 August 1917, Lt. Comdr. E...

was designed by George L. Watson and built for him on the River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 in 1897. After his death it was extensively used for summer cruising in European waters by his son Robert Walton Goelet

Robert Walton Goelet

Robert Walton Goelet was a financier and real estate developer in New York City, who, at the time of his death, was one of the largest property owners in the city...

, who lent the yacht at no cost to the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, who operated it as USS Nahma (SP-771)

USS Nahma (SP-771)

USS Nahma , an armed yacht, was built by the Clydebank Engine and SB Co., Glasgow, Scotland in 1897; acquired by the United States Navy on free lease from Robert Walton Goelet on 21 June 1917 for use as a section patrol vessel and commissioned on 27 August 1917, Lt. Comdr. E...

 from 1917 to 1919, after which it was returned.

Robert Goelet died on April 27, 1899 in Naples, Italy.