Oliver Burr Jennings

Early life

Jennings was born in 1825 in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Abraham Gould Jennings and Anna (née Burr) Jennings. His brother was Frederick B. Jennings. At a young age he came to New York to learn the dry goods business. Through his great-grandfather, Peter Burr, he was distantly related to U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr.

Career

In 1847 he headed West to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush. He set up a general mercantile store in San Francisco with Benjamin Brewster an amassed a considerable fortune by outfitting prospecting camps along the coast and around Sacramento.

Standard Oil

In 1862, he returned to New York with the intention of retiring from al business activities. Due to his close relationship with his wife's brother-in-law, Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller Jr., he became interested in the affairs of the Standard Oil Company.

Jennings served as a director of Standard Oil of Ohio and then as a trustee of the Standard Oil Trust that resulted from the company's reorganization in 1882.

Personal life

On December 13, 1854, he married Esther Judson Goodsell (1828–1908) in Fairfield. Her younger sister, Almira Geraldine Goodsell, was the wife of William Rockefeller Jr. Together, Oliver and Esther had five children:

• Annie Burr Jennings (1855–1939), a philanthropist.
• Walter Jennings (1858–1933), the director of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and president of the Jekyll Island Club from 1927 until 1933.
• Helen Goodsell Jennings (1860–1946), who married Dr. Walter Belknap James (1858–1927), president of the Jekyll Island Club from 1919 until 1927.
• Emma Brewster Jennings (1861–1942), who married Hugh D. Auchincloss Sr. (1858–1913).
• Oliver Gould Jennings (1865–1936), who married Mary Dows Brewster (b. 1871), daughter of Benjamin Brewster and Elmina Hersey Dows.

Jennings died in 1893 at his residence in New York City.

Descendants

Jennings's grandchildren include businessman Benjamin Brewster Jennings (1898–1968) and stockbroker Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr. (1897–1976), who married Janet Lee Bouvier. and Anne Burr Auchincloss, who married Wilmarth S. Lewis and spent her fortune to setting up the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University, devoted to the life and works of Horace Walpole, the builder of Strawberry Hill House.

References

References

1. Ward, George Kemp. (1910). "Andrew Warde and His Descendants, 1597-1910". A.T. De La Mare.
2. (1893-02-13). "Oliver Burr Jennings". [[The New York Times]].
3. Michael J. Pauley. (April 9, 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Peter Burr House". National Park Service.
4. (1898). "Men of Progress". New England Magazine.
5. Dies, Edward. (1969). "Behind the Wall Street Curtain". Ayer.
6. McCash, June Hall. (1998). "The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony". University of Georgia Press.
7. (August 2, 1939). "MISS JENNINGS LISTS 11 KIN AS CHIEF HEIRS {{!}} Servants and Charities Also Share in $6,000,000 Estate". [[The New York Times]].
8. "Annie Burr Jennings: Philanthropist 1855-1939 · Wonder Women of Fairfield · Fairfield Photos". Fairfield Museum and History Center.
9. (January 10, 1933). "WALTER JENNINGS DIES IN THE SOUTH {{!}} Son of One of Associates of John D. Rockefeller Sr. in - Original Standard Oil. {{!}} A POWER IN N. J. STANDARD {{!}} Was a Descendant of Aaron Burr {{!}} A Philanthropist, Patron of Art and Prominent Clubman.". [[The New York Times]].
10. (January 13, 1933). "Walter Jennings Dies After Heart Attack At Jekyll Island". The Long Islander.
11. (August 16, 1946). "MRS. WALTER B. JAMES: Widow of Academy of Medicine Leader Headed Day Nursery". [[The New York Times]].
12. (April 19, 1927). "GIFTS TO THREE COLLEGES.; Dr. W.B. James Wills $25,000 to Columbia -- Estate, $2,000,000.". [[The New York Times]].
13. (September 12, 1942). "MRS. AUCHINCLOSS: PHILANTHROPIST, 80; Widow of Hugh D. Auchincloss, a Merchant, Dies in Home at Fairfield, Conn. AARON BURR DESCENDANT Contributed $25,000 to the Presbyterian Hospital Here -- Active in Garden Club". [[The New York Times]].
14. (April 22, 1913). "HUGH D. AUCHINCLOSS DIES.; Apoplexy Ends Life of Well-Known Merchant.". [[The New York Times]].
15. (October 14, 1936). "Oliver Jennings, Capitalist, Dead. Director of Many Companies, 71, Had Been on Board of Bethlehem Steel. Was Former Legislator. Served in Connecticut House of Representatives. Brother of Mrs. Walter B. James". [[The New York Times]].
16. Buck, Albert H.. (1909). "The Bucks of Wethersfield, Connecticut". Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co..