Francis M. Bacon Explained

Francis McNeil Bacon (June 27, 1835 – September 21, 1912) was an American woolen manufacturer and banker.

Early life

Bacon was born on June 27, 1835, in Dorchester, Massachusetts.^[1] He was the eldest child of Lory Baldwin Bacon (1806–1877) and Sarah Ann (Hammond) Bacon (1810–1886).^[2] Among his siblings were Sarah Walton Bacon and Louisa Fisher Bacon.

He was a grandson of Rufus Bacon of Sutton, who served with the Massachusetts militia during the Revolutionary War.^[2] His Bacon ancestors "came from England in the early 1600s, landed near Cape Cod, and settled in Worcester County, Mass."^[1]

Bacon was educated in public schools before graduating from Boston High School in 1853.^[3]

Career

After graduating from Boston High School, he moved to New York City to "engage in the dry goods business."^[3] In 1860, he became a partner in the form of Hurlbert, Von Volkenburgh & Co., and a year later organized the firm of Francis M. Bacon & Co.^[4] The following year, because of ill health, he went to California. In 1873, he founded Haines, Bacon & Col, woolen commission merchants. In 1877, the firm became Bacon, Baldwin & Col, which continued after Baldwin's death in 1892 when it was renamed to Bacon & Co, and located at 92 Franklin Street in New York.^[3]

He was a trustee in the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company and the Seamen's Bank for Savings and was a director in the Metropolitan Trust Company and the National City Bank of New York.

Personal life

On November 24, 1862, Bacon was married to Margaret Rogers Gray (1839–1876), a daughter of Elizabeth Phillips (Chapman) Gray and the Rev. Frederick Turell Gray of King's Chapel, Boston.^[5] Before her death in 1876, they were the parents of five children:^[2]

• Francis McNiel Bacon Jr. (b. 1864), who married Pauline Post.^{[6] [7]}
• Margaret Gray Bacon (1866–1933),^[8] who Clinton Gilbert in 1899.^{[9] [10]} They divorced in 1921.^{[11] [12]}
• James Frederick Bacon (1867–1929),^[5] a Columbia graduate who married Alice (Lee) Miller,^[13] a daughter of John Bowers Lee and former wife of Ralph G. Miller, in July 1912.^[14]
• Elizabeth Chapman Bacon (1870–1873), who died young.^[5]
• Rogers Hammond Bacon (1874–1962),^[15] an 1899 graduate of Harvard Law;^[16] he married Mabel (Dean) Kalbfleisch, daughter of James Edward Dean and widow of Edward Kalbfleisch, in June 1912.^{[17] [18]}

After her death, he married Katherine Paris Storrow (1842–1917) in October 1879. She was a daughter of Thomas Wentworth Storrow and Sarah Sanders (Paris) Storrow and a grandniece of author Washington Irving. Her sister, Julie Grinnell Storrow, was the wife of Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger.^[19] Together, they were the parents of one child:^[5]

• Wentworth Cruger Bacon (b. 1880),^{[5] [20]} who served in France during World War I;^[21] he married actress Katherine La Salle Carpenter, daughter of Charles O. La Salle and former wife of Samuel Emlen Carpenter, in 1929.^{[22] [23]} She had acted opposite John Barrymore in Master Mind.^[24]

He was a member of the Century Association, the Union Club, the Union League Club, the Players Club, the Merchants Club, the Church Club, and the Sons of the Revolution. In New York, their residence was at 20 West 10th Street.^[25]

After a "lingering illness", Bacon died on September 21, 1912, in Ridgefield, Connecticut.^[26] His funeral was held at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion on Sixth Avenue and 20th Street in Manhattan.^[27]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Francis, he was a grandfather of Francis McNeil Bacon III (who married photographer Antoinette Wood Frissell, sister of explorer Varick Frissell, in 1932),^{[28] [29]} and Pauline Bacon (who married attorney Harold Edward Herrick in 1918).^{[30] [31]}

External links

• Portrait of Mrs. Francis McNeil Bacon Jr., Bacon's daughter-in-law, Pauline Post Bacon, at the New-York Historical Society
• Portrait of Mrs. Ralph G. Miller (ca. 1875-1952), Bacon's daughter-in-law, Alice Lee Miller Bacon, at the New-York Historical Society

Notes and References

1. Book: Society . Sons of the American Revolution New York State . Yearbook . 1894 . Sons of the American Revolution New York State Society . 58–59 . 25 July 2022 . en.
2. Book: Revolution . Sons of the American . National Year Book . 1915 . . 226 . 25 July 2022 . en.
3. Book: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography . 1921 . J. T. White . 437 . 25 July 2022 . en.
4. Book: Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900 . 1900 . Biographical directory Company (incorporated) . 18 . 25 July 2022 . en.
5. Book: Baldwin . Thomas Williams . Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and His Descendants . 1915 . Higginson Book Company . 978-0-8328-3011-2 . 332 . 25 July 2022 . en.
6. Book: of 1884 . Harvard College (1780-) Class . Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report of the Secretary . 1909 . . 27–28 . 25 July 2022 . en.
7. News: MRS. FRANCIS M'N. BACON . 25 July 2022 . . 9 July 1951.
8. News: TIMES . Wireless to THE NEW YORK . MRS. M. B. GILBERT Resident of This City Dies in Beverly Hills, Calif. . 25 July 2022 . . 11 November 1933.
9. News: Gilbert -- Bacon. . 25 July 2022 . . 9 February 1899.
10. Book: Register of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York, 1893-1913 . 1913 . Authority of the Board of managers . 105 . 25 July 2022 . en.
11. News: CLINTON GILBERT MARRIES.; Broker's Wedding With Mrs. M.S. French Reveals Divorce. . 25 July 2022 . . 19 July 1921.
12. Web site: Motorsport Memorial - Margaret Perry . www.motorsportmemorial.org . 25 July 2022.
13. Web site: Mrs. Ralph G. Miller (ca. 1875-1952) . emuseum.nyhistory.org . . 25 July 2022 . en.
14. News: BACON-MILLER WEDDING; Mrs. Alice Lee Miller the Bride of James Frederick Bacon. . 25 July 2022 . . 19 July 1912.
15. News: ROGERS H. BACON, 88, OF LAW FIRM HERE . 25 July 2022 . . 22 May 1962.
16. Book: Warren . Charles . History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America . 1908 . Lewis Publishing Company . 360 . 25 July 2022 . en.
17. News: Mrs Mabel D. Kalbfleisch a Bride. . 25 July 2022 . . 19 June 1912.
18. News: MRS. ROGERS H. BACON; Served on Advisory Board for Vocational Studies in Schools . 25 July 2022 . . 19 September 1940.
19. News: Mrs. Cruger, Novelist Julien Gordon, Dies: Widow of Col. S. Van. R. Cruger and ex-wife of Wade Chance, Wrote "Vampires" . 25 July 2022 . . 13 July 1920.
20. Book: Notes of a Conversation with Mrs. Wentworth C. Bacon, Millbrook, N.Y. Concerning the Storrow Family . 25 July 2022 . en.
21. Book: Benson . Albert Emerson . Saint Mark's School in the War Against Germany . 1920 . Priv. print, for the school . 11–12 . 25 July 2022 . en.
22. News: MRS. CARPENTER MARRIED.; Becomes Bride of W.C. Bacon in a Quiet Ceremony. . 25 July 2022 . . 15 February 1929.
23. News: KATHERINE LA SALLE IS VERY TEAR-STAINED; What With Her Nightly Grief in "The 13th Chair," She Has Wept Nearly as Much as Jane Cowl. . 25 July 2022 . . 28 January 1917.
24. News: Times . Special to The New York . ACTRESS GETS DIVORCE.; Katherine La Salle Carpenter Wins Decree in Connecticut. . 25 July 2022 . . 22 October 1924.
25. Book: Club Men of New York: Their Occupations, and Business and Home Addresses: Sketches of Each of the Organizations: College Alumni Associations . 1902 . Republic Press . 76 . 25 July 2022 . en.
26. News: FRANCIS McNEIL BACON DEAD.; Woolen Manufacturer, Banker, and Union Club Member. . 25 July 2022 . . 22 September 1912.
27. News: Died -- BACON . 19 July 2022 . . 24 September 1912.
28. News: MISS A. W. FRISSELL ENGAGED TO MARRY; Her Betrothal to Francis M. Bacon 3d Announced by Her. Father, Dr. L. F. Frissell, SISTER OF LATE EXPLORER Her Fiancé, a Graduate of Oxford, Is a Member of the New York Stock Exchange. . 25 July 2022 . . 2 August 1932.
29. News: Toni Frissell, 81, Dies; A Noted Photographer . 25 July 2022 . . 20 April 1988.
30. Book: Virkus . Frederick Adams . Marquis . Albert Nelson . The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: First Families of America . 1925 . A.N. Marquis . 339 . 25 July 2022 . en.
31. News: WEDS LIEUT. H.E. HERRICK.; Miss Pauline Bacon's Marriage to Naval Officer Is Hurried. . 25 July 2022 . . 10 November 1918.