Samuel Ward McAllister (December 1827–January 31, 1895) was the self-appointed arbiter

Arbiter

Arbiter may refer to:*Arbiter , in computing and electronics a circuitry component*Arbiter , a character in the Halo video game series*ArbiterSports, a sports officiating software company owned by the NCAA...

 of New York

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...

 society from the 1860s to the early 1890s.

Life and career

Born Samuel Ward McAllister to a socially prominent Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

 judicial family, established himself as a successful attorney in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 during the Gold Rush

Gold rush

A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...

. He used the earnings from his legal prowess to journey throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

's great cities and spas—Bath, Pau, Bad Nauheim

Bad Nauheim

Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. , Bad Nauheim has a population of 30,365. The town is located approximately 35 kilometers north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a world-famous resort, noted for its salt...

, and the like-—where he observed the mannerisms of the titled nobility. Upon his return to the United States, McAllister settled in New York City and married heiress Sarah Taintor Gibbons. Using his wife's wealth and his own social connections (he was related to lobbyist Samuel Cutler Ward

Samuel Cutler Ward

Samuel Ward , was a poet, author, and gourmet, and in the years after the Civil War he was widely known as the "King of the Lobby." He combined delicious food, fine wines, and good conversation to create a new type of lobbying in Washington, DC—social lobbying—over which he reigned for...

, who had married a granddaughter of John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...

), McAllister sought to become a tastemaker amongst New York's "Knickerbocracy", a collection of old merchant and landowning families who traced their lineage back to the days of colonial New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....

. Above all in McAllister's life, it was his desire for social recognition and what he termed "Tong", the cream of society.

Although purported to be an index of New York's best families, McAllister's list was suspiciously top-heavy with nouveau riche

Nouveau riche

The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...

 industrialists and McAllister's southern allies, seeking a new start in the nation's financial capital after the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. In his glory, McAllister referred to his patroness, Mrs. Caroline Astor (The Mrs. Astor), as his "Mystic Rose." He was largely responsible for turning the simple seaside resort of 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...

 into a mecca for the pleasure-seeking, status-conscious rich of the Gilded Age

Gilded Age

In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...

.

Among the undesirables McAllister endeavored to exclude from the charmed circle of the Four Hundred were the many nouveau riche Midwesterners who poured into New York seeking social recognition. In 1893, McAllister wrote a column about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...

 in which he urged that if Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 society hostesses wanted be taken seriously, they should hire French chefs and "not frappé their wine too much." The Chicago Journal

Chicago Daily News

The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...

replied, "The mayor will not frappé his wine too much. He will frappé it just enough so the guests can blow the foam off the tops of the glasses without a vulgar exhibition of lung and lip power. His ham sandwiches, sinkers, and ... pigs' feet, will be triumphs of the gastronomic art."

McAllister's downfall came when he published a book of memoirs entitled Society as I Have Found It in 1890. The book, and his hunger for media attention, did little to endear him to the old guard, who valued their privacy in an era when millionaires were the equivalent of modern movie stars.

McAllister died in disgrace while dining alone at New York's Union Club, in January 1895. His funeral, held on February 5, 1895, was well attended by many society figures of the day, including Chauncey Depew

Chauncey Depew

Chauncey Mitchell Depew was an attorney for Cornelius Vanderbilt's railroad interests, president of the New York Central Railroad System, and a United States Senator from New York from 1899 to 1911.- Biography:...

 and Cornelius Vanderbilt II

Cornelius Vanderbilt II

Cornelius Vanderbilt II was an American socialite, heir, businessman, and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family....

.

"The Four Hundred"

McAllister coined the phrase "the Four Hundred

The Four Hundred

The Four Hundred can refer to:* The oligarchic government controlling Athens after the Athenian coup of 411 BC* The social elite of New York City in the late 19th century; term coined by Ward McAllister, supposedly the number of people Mrs William Backhouse Astor, Jr's ballroom could accommodate*...

". According to him, this was the number of people in New York who really mattered; the people who felt at ease in the ballrooms of high society. ("If you go outside that number," he warned, "you strike people who are either not at ease in a ballroom or else make other people not at ease.") The number was popularly supposed to be the capacity of Mrs William Backhouse Astor Jr.

Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor

Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor was a prominent American socialite of the last quarter of the 19th century. Famous for being referred to later in life as "the Mrs. Astor" or simply "Mrs. Astor", she was the wife of real estate heir William Backhouse Astor Jr...

's ballroom. The Four Million

The Four Million

The Four Million is the second published collection of short stories by O. Henry originally released in 1906. There are twenty five stories of various lengths including several of his best known works such as "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Cop and the Anthem"...

, the title of a book by O. Henry

O. Henry

O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...

, was a reaction to this phrase, expressing Henry's opinion that every human being in New York was worthy of notice.

External links

• McCallister biography at "Class and Leisure at America's First Resort"
• Biographical sketch at The History Box