Henry Asher Robbins

Henry Asher Robbins (1829 – January 21, 1914) was an American manufacturer who was prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age.

Henry Asher Robbins
Born1829
Berlin, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJanuary 21, 1914(1914-01-21) (aged 84)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationFounder of the Waltham Watch Company
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1866; his death 1914)​
Children2

Early life

Robbins was born in 1829 in Berlin, Connecticut. His father was the pastor of the Kensington Congregational Church in Kensington, Connecticut for forty-three years.[1]

Robbins was a direct descendant of Asher Robbins, the United States Senator from Rhode Island.[2][3]

Career

Together with his brother Royal E. Robbins, he founded the Waltham Watch Company, which merged with Robbins, Appleton & Co., a watch importing company based out of Boston that owned the Waltham, Massachusetts based American Watch Company.[1]

Society life

In 1892, both Robins and his wife were both included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[4][5] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[6]

Personal life

In 1866, Robbins married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Pelham Bend (c. 1845–1933).[7] Lizzie was the sister of prominent banker George H. Bend.[8] Together, they were the parents of two children, a son and a daughter:[9]

The Robbins built "Asher House" in Southampton, New York designed by Grosvenor Atterbury.[1]

Robbins died of pneumonia[15] at his apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on January 21, 1914.[16] His widow died at her residence, 540 Park Avenue in New York, in July 1933.[17] Her funeral was held at St. Andrew's Dune Church in Southampton.[17]

References
  1. Spanburgh, Sally (2015). Southampton Cottages of South Main Street, The: The Original Hamptons Summer Colony. Arcadia Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 9781626192911. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  2. "ROBBINS, Asher - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  3. Clay, Henry (1963). The Papers of Henry Clay: Presidential Candidate, 1821-1824. University Press of Kentucky. p. 661. ISBN 0813130476. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  4. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 225. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  7. "Mrs. Henry Asher Robbins (ca. 1845-1933)". nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. "BENJAMIN WELLES DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Father of Assistant Secretary of State Was Descendant of Colonial Settlers" (PDF). The New York Times. December 27, 1935. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Forest, Louis Effingham De (1894). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 6.
  10. McVickar, Edward; Breed, William Constable (September 1906). Memoranda relating to the McVickar family in America. New York. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  11. "A DAY OF NOTABLE UNIONS; BRILLIANT WEDDINGS IN THIS CITY AND WASHINGTON. MISS MAUD ROBBINS MARRIES MR. HARRY WHITNEY M'VICKAR AND MISS FLORENCE AUDENREID BECOMES THE COUNTESS DIVONNE". The New York Times. 15 January 1891. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  12. "H.P. ROBBINS DIES; PHILANTHROPIST, 71; Columbia Trustee, President of Memorial Hospital 12 Years --Civic, Educational Leader". The New York Times. 21 March 1946. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  13. "Mrs. Harry P. Robbins". The New York Times. 24 April 1962. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  14. "MISS EMILY WELLES A BRIDE.; Mrs. Astor's Grandniece Married in Grace Church to H.P. Robbins". The New York Times. 23 April 1908. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  15. "Obituary 1 -- No Title" (PDF). The New York Times. January 23, 1914. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  16. "HENRY ASHER ROBBINS" (PDF). The New York Times. January 22, 1914. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  17. "ROBBINS" (PDF). The New York Times. July 22, 1933. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
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