William Shepard Wetmore
Encyclopedia
William Shepard Wetmore (January 26, 1801 – June 16, 1862) was an Old China Trade
merchant and philanthropist from New England.
. He was a sixth-generation descendant of Thomas Whitmore
, who immigrated to Boston in 1635 from the west coast of England and became one of the earliest settlers of the Connecticut Colony
. His mother died on February 2, 1802. He had two stepbrothers Charles Wright Wetmore and Seth Downing Wetmore and one stepsister Nancy Shepard Wetmore. William moved to Connecticut with his aunt and uncle and was educated at Cheshire Academy
in Cheshire, Connecticut
.
. In 1815 Samuel and his brother William Willard Wetmore moved to Providence, Rhode Island
entering into a business partnership with the merchants Edward Carrington & Company. When William was fourteen years of age, he was hired aboard the ship Fame, bound for England, South America,
and the East Indies. In 1823, a trip on the Lion stranded him in Valparaíso, Chile. He took employment in Chile with the firm Richard Alsop
of Middletown, Connecticut
. This eventually led to a partnership of Alsop, Wetmore and Cryder in 1825 with John Cryder of Philadelphia. In 1829, he retired from the firm.
and took over a partnership in Dunn & Company. He formed close ties with a junior partner Joseph Archer. He went on to establish a new merchant house, Wetmore & Company, with Joseph Archer. Wetmore's profit and loss ledgers from 1834–1839 reveal that the primary goods brokered by Wetmore & Co. were tea, tea papers, silks and spices. Lesser cargoes were wines, ports, hemp, pearl buttons, copper and coffee. They also transported a variety of foreign currencies, and delivered Sunday newspapers. "Fast boats" were commonly employed for personal passages and letters. The company went on to be one of the largest mercantile houses in the East Indies despite the fact that Wetmore was opposed to the opium trade. During his time in the Far East, Wetmore collected a variety of Chinese objects, porcelains and china, which he imported home.
It was in 1835 that the Maryland merchant George Peabody
sailed to London on a mission to defer a United States banking crisis when states had begun skipping interest payments on bonds marketed in London. Peabody eventually enjoyed a huge success as a merchant banker in London and as a self appointed American ambassador of the mercantile industry. He developed a form of wholesale banking known as merchant banks and became a leading dealer of American state bonds in London. It was through family and business connections that William S. Wetmore began a lifelong friendship with the prominent financier Peabody.
In 1837, William went to England and married a cousin, Esther Phillips Wetmore of Middletown, Connecticut
, at Gloucester Lodge, Regent's Park
, London, on October 24, 1837. She was the daughter of his uncle Samuel Wetmore and a sister of Mary Cryder. The following year, a daughter was born in New York City, who died at birth or soon thereafter on October 12, 1838. Esther died on October 26, 1838.
After her death, he married 21-year-old Anstiss Derby Rogers in Salem, Massachusetts
, on September 5, 1843, daughter of John Wittingham Rogers. They had three children; William Shepard Wetmore Jr (born on August 1, 1844, died of Scarlet Fever June 6, 1858), George Peabody Wetmore (born August 2, 1846 ), and Annie Derby Rogers Wetmore (born May 19, 1848, married July 7, 1871, died of pneumonia February 29, 1884)).
In 1844, he revisited his partnership with Cryer and formed the house of Wetmore and Cryer in New York City. He retired from the firm in 1847. According to Barrett in The Old Merchants of New York City, besides his success in the merchant trade, Wetmore acquired vast land holdings of 10,000 acres (40 km²) in Ohio and 70,000 acres (280 km²) in Tennessee and his net worth at retirement was valued over one million dollars.
He left New York City and retired to Newport, Rhode Island
where he bought 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of land. He built Chateau-sur-Mer
, the first of the grand Bellevue Avenue mansion
of the Gilded Age
mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is now open to the public as a museum. He furnished it with "strange and interesting" Chinese lacquer furniture and porcelain. In 1860 he added a massive stone moon gate on the grounds from designs brought back from China.
However, there is there is no mention of his wife, Anstiss, in a series of letters written between Annie, George, and their father, corresponding between Newport and New York City during the years 1856-1860. It is believed she lived at the Merlano Cottage in Jamaica Plains Massachusetts. According to the 1860 and 1865 census, Mrs. Wetmore is not residing at Chateau sur Mer. Servants living at the house in the 1860 census were a butler, cook, laundress and chambermaid. Another resident in the 1860 census at Chateau sur Mer was a Wetmore cousin, twenty year old Lucy Dennison.
William S. Wetmore conducted an active community life in Newport as a founder and incorporator of the Newport Historical Society
in 1854, as the first and continuing chairman of the Newport Reading Room
, 1854–1861, and as a Director of the Redwood Library from 1856-1862. Wetmore was one of sixteen Newporters who joined to contribute $16,500.00 to Touro Park. He was also elected Vice President of the innovative Butler Hospital
for the insane in 1858, which initiated reform of treatment for the poor and insane.
Upon William Wetmore's death on June 16, 1862, sixteen year old George and fourteen year old
Annie were master and mistress of Chateau sur Mer.
Old China Trade
The Old China Trade was the name given to the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghsia in 1844...
merchant and philanthropist from New England.
Early life
He was born on January 26, 1801 to Nancy Shepard and Seth Wetmore in St. Albans, VermontSt. Albans (town), Vermont
St. Albans is a town in Franklin County, Vermont. The population was 6,392 at the 2010 census. The town completely surrounds the city of St. Albans, which was separated from the town and incorporated in 1902. References to "St. Albans" prior to this date generally refer to the town center, which...
. He was a sixth-generation descendant of Thomas Whitmore
Thomas Whitmore
Thomas Whitmore was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1659.Whitmore was the eldest son of John Whitmore of Ludstone and his wife Frances Billingsley, daughter of William Billingsley of Astley, Shropshire. He was educucated at. New Inn Hall and at Wadham College,...
, who immigrated to Boston in 1635 from the west coast of England and became one of the earliest settlers of the Connecticut Colony
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
. His mother died on February 2, 1802. He had two stepbrothers Charles Wright Wetmore and Seth Downing Wetmore and one stepsister Nancy Shepard Wetmore. William moved to Connecticut with his aunt and uncle and was educated at Cheshire Academy
Cheshire Academy
Cheshire Academy is a college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it was the tenth private academy founded in the United States....
in Cheshire, Connecticut
Cheshire, Connecticut
Cheshire is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 28,543 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshire. In 2009 Cheshire was ranked 72 in Money Magazine's 100 Best Places to Live.Likewise, in 2011 Cheshire was ranked 73 in...
.
Mercantile shipping business
William was mentored by an uncle, Samuel Wetmore, who was in a mercantile partnership with another uncle, Chauncy Whittlesey, in Middletown, ConnecticutMiddletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
. In 1815 Samuel and his brother William Willard Wetmore moved to Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
entering into a business partnership with the merchants Edward Carrington & Company. When William was fourteen years of age, he was hired aboard the ship Fame, bound for England, South America,
and the East Indies. In 1823, a trip on the Lion stranded him in Valparaíso, Chile. He took employment in Chile with the firm Richard Alsop
Richard Alsop
Richard Alsop was an American merchant and author.Richard Alsop was born January 23, 1761. His father was also named Richard Alsop...
of Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
. This eventually led to a partnership of Alsop, Wetmore and Cryder in 1825 with John Cryder of Philadelphia. In 1829, he retired from the firm.
China Trade
Due to impaired health William's physician advised a career move to China. In 1833, he traveled to Canton, ChinaGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
and took over a partnership in Dunn & Company. He formed close ties with a junior partner Joseph Archer. He went on to establish a new merchant house, Wetmore & Company, with Joseph Archer. Wetmore's profit and loss ledgers from 1834–1839 reveal that the primary goods brokered by Wetmore & Co. were tea, tea papers, silks and spices. Lesser cargoes were wines, ports, hemp, pearl buttons, copper and coffee. They also transported a variety of foreign currencies, and delivered Sunday newspapers. "Fast boats" were commonly employed for personal passages and letters. The company went on to be one of the largest mercantile houses in the East Indies despite the fact that Wetmore was opposed to the opium trade. During his time in the Far East, Wetmore collected a variety of Chinese objects, porcelains and china, which he imported home.
It was in 1835 that the Maryland merchant George Peabody
George Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...
sailed to London on a mission to defer a United States banking crisis when states had begun skipping interest payments on bonds marketed in London. Peabody eventually enjoyed a huge success as a merchant banker in London and as a self appointed American ambassador of the mercantile industry. He developed a form of wholesale banking known as merchant banks and became a leading dealer of American state bonds in London. It was through family and business connections that William S. Wetmore began a lifelong friendship with the prominent financier Peabody.
Family life and retirement
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, at Gloucester Lodge, Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
, London, on October 24, 1837. She was the daughter of his uncle Samuel Wetmore and a sister of Mary Cryder. The following year, a daughter was born in New York City, who died at birth or soon thereafter on October 12, 1838. Esther died on October 26, 1838.
After her death, he married 21-year-old Anstiss Derby Rogers in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, on September 5, 1843, daughter of John Wittingham Rogers. They had three children; William Shepard Wetmore Jr (born on August 1, 1844, died of Scarlet Fever June 6, 1858), George Peabody Wetmore (born August 2, 1846 ), and Annie Derby Rogers Wetmore (born May 19, 1848, married July 7, 1871, died of pneumonia February 29, 1884)).
In 1844, he revisited his partnership with Cryer and formed the house of Wetmore and Cryer in New York City. He retired from the firm in 1847. According to Barrett in The Old Merchants of New York City, besides his success in the merchant trade, Wetmore acquired vast land holdings of 10,000 acres (40 km²) in Ohio and 70,000 acres (280 km²) in Tennessee and his net worth at retirement was valued over one million dollars.
He left New York City and retired to 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...
where he bought 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of land. He built Chateau-sur-Mer
Chateau-sur-Mer
Chateau-sur-Mer is the first of the grand Bellevue Avenue mansions of the Gilded Age mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is now open to the public as a museum...
, the first of the grand Bellevue Avenue mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
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...
mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is now open to the public as a museum. He furnished it with "strange and interesting" Chinese lacquer furniture and porcelain. In 1860 he added a massive stone moon gate on the grounds from designs brought back from China.
However, there is there is no mention of his wife, Anstiss, in a series of letters written between Annie, George, and their father, corresponding between Newport and New York City during the years 1856-1860. It is believed she lived at the Merlano Cottage in Jamaica Plains Massachusetts. According to the 1860 and 1865 census, Mrs. Wetmore is not residing at Chateau sur Mer. Servants living at the house in the 1860 census were a butler, cook, laundress and chambermaid. Another resident in the 1860 census at Chateau sur Mer was a Wetmore cousin, twenty year old Lucy Dennison.
William S. Wetmore conducted an active community life in Newport as a founder and incorporator of the Newport Historical Society
Newport Historical Society
The Newport Historical Society is a historical society in Newport, Rhode Island that was chartered in 1854 to collect and preserve books, manuscripts, and objects pertaining to Newport's history.-History of the Society:...
in 1854, as the first and continuing chairman of the Newport Reading Room
Newport Reading Room
The Newport Reading Room , founded in 1854, is a gentlemen's club located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Its primary building features an actual book reading room...
, 1854–1861, and as a Director of the Redwood Library from 1856-1862. Wetmore was one of sixteen Newporters who joined to contribute $16,500.00 to Touro Park. He was also elected Vice President of the innovative Butler Hospital
Butler Hospital
Butler Hospital is a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse hospital for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors, located in Providence, Rhode Island. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and is the flagship for Brown University's...
for the insane in 1858, which initiated reform of treatment for the poor and insane.
Upon William Wetmore's death on June 16, 1862, sixteen year old George and fourteen year old
Annie were master and mistress of Chateau sur Mer.
External links
- A Study of Chateau sur Mer Report I: The Wetmore Family and Their Domestics
- A Study of Chateau sur Mer Report II: Rites of Passage: The Wetmores of Chateau sur Mer
- Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division George P. Wetmore Papers
- Anstiss Derby Rogers Wetmore modeled 1846 by Hiram Powers
- William Shepard Wetmore Papers at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School