Cornelius Eldert Explained

Cornelius Eldert (1850 – January 24, 1930) was an American businessman and philanthropist who served as president of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company.

Early life

Eldert was born in 1850 in Brooklyn, New York and was a descendant of Dutch immigrants to New Amsterdam.^[1] He was a son of Samuel Eldert (1815–1870) and Aletta Ann (Stoothoff) Eldert (1818–1898),^[2] and his brother was Ditmas Eldert.^[3] His maternal grandparents were Mary and John C. Stoothoff,^[4] and his paternal grandparents were Luke Eldert and Femmetye Phebe van Wicklen.^[5]

In his youth Eldert played baseball for the Crescent Base Ball Club of Jamaica, New York,^[6] and, in 1861, he had two of his fingers cut off by a straw cutter.^[7]

Career

Beginning in 1865 at age sixteen, Eldert became associated with the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company and spent the rest of his career there, focusing on marine insurance. The company, which had been founded in 1838 as the Atlantic Insurance Company as a joint-stock company, became a mutual company in 1842. He also served as president and director of the Board of Underwriters of New York, resigning the presidency a few years before his death. He became president in 1915, succeeding Anton A. Raven, and remained president until his death in 1930.^[8]

Eldert also served as trustee of the Seamen's Bank for Savings, vice president and director of the Atlantic Safe Deposit Company, and a director of the Underwriters Salvage Company and of the Metropolitan Trust Company.^[9]

Personal life

Eldert was married to Isabelle Kate Cameron (1852–1935).^[10] Isabelle, who was born in British Guiana, was a daughter of Isabella Catherine (Groves) Cameron and Donald Cameron. Her sister, Edith Cameron, was the wife of H. A. Graham Driscoll.^[11] Together, they lived at 557 First Street in Brooklyn and were the parents of:

• Katharine Stoothoff Eldert (1877–1976), who married the Rev. Joseph Percy Smyth,^[12] son of Irish immigrant Joseph P. Smyth, in 1905.^[13]
• Henry Cameron Eldert (1880–1937), a lawyer who married Marion Macmillin.^{[14] [15]}

A prominent philanthropist and "generous supporter of diocesan and community charities,"^[16] he was president of the Life Saving Benevolent Society from 1919 to 1930 and vice president of the Brooklyn Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor.

Eldert died at his home in Brooklyn on January 24, 1930.^[17] After a funeral at St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn (where he had been a vestryman and warden), he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.^[17] His estate, which was valued at a net $1,750,913,^[18] was left to his family.^[19] His widow died in 1935.^[10]

External links

• Joseph P. Smyth family papers: 1793-1994 at The New York Public Library

Notes and References

1. News: Cornelius Eldert Dead. . 25 April 2022 . . 27 January 1930 . 24.
2. Book: Onderdonk . Henry . History of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Jamaica, L.I. . 1884 . The Consistory . 200 . 25 April 2022 . en.
3. Book: Greene . Richard Henry . Stiles . Henry Reed . Dwight . Melatiah Everett . Morrison . George Austin . Mott . Hopper Striker . Totten . John Reynolds . Pitman . Harold Minot . Ditmas . Charles Andrew . Forest . Louis Effingham De . Mann . Conklin . Maynard . Arthur S. . The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record . 1979 . . 29, 79, 201 . 25 April 2022 . en.
4. News: Mary Stroothoff Will . 25 April 2022 . . 22 June 1915 . 25.
5. Book: Bergen . Teunis G. . The Bergen Family; Or: The Descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen, One of the Early Settlers of New York and Brooklyn, L. I. . 1876 . J. Munsell . 355 . 25 April 2022 . en.
6. Web site: Joseph P. Smyth family papers . archives.nypl.org . . 25 April 2022.
7. News: Accident . 25 April 2022 . Brooklyn Evening Star . 27 March 1861 . 2.
8. Book: America . Insurance Institute of . Proceedings of the Conferences of the Insurance Institute of America . 1929 . 25 April 2022 . en.
9. News: In The Equitable Building . 27 October 2021 . . 9 Dec 1921 . 10 . en.
10. News: ELDERT . 25 April 2022 . . 18 May 1935 . 11.
11. News: DRISCOLL-CAMERON WEDDING. . 25 April 2022 . . 6 January 1898.
12. News: Times . Special Lo The New York . REV. JOSEPH P. SMYTH . 25 April 2022 . . 14 November 1954.
13. News: Paid Notice: Deaths SMYTH, JOSEPH PERCY . 25 April 2022 . . 15 February 2001.
14. News: HENRY CAMERON ELDERT; Member of a Law Firm Here Had Represented Banks . 25 April 2022 . . 14 February 1937.
15. News: Times . Special to The New York . Benton -- Eldert . 25 April 2022 . . 24 May 1958.
16. Book: The Living Church Annual . 1931 . Morehouse-Gorham Company . 108 . 25 April 2022 . en.
17. News: CORNELIUS ELDERT DIES IN 82D YEAR; President of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company at His Death. SERVED IT FROM AGE OF 16 Former Head of Underwriters--A Leader in Charity Work--Walked Across Brooklyn Bridge Daily. . 25 April 2022 . . 26 January 1930.
18. News: ESTATES APPRAISED . 25 April 2022 . . 27 March 1930 . 40.
19. News: Insurance Man's Estate Goes to Widow, Children. Cornelius Eldert, an Old Brooklynite, Also Remembers Grandchildren . 25 April 2022 . . 30 January 1930 . 19.