William Colford Schermerhorn was an American lawyer, philanthropist, and patron of the arts.
Early life
Schermerhorn was born in New York City on June 22, 1821. He was the son of Peter Schermerhorn and Sarah Schermerhorn. Among his siblings was older brothers John Jones Schermerhorn, Peter Augustus Schermerhorn, and Edmund H. H. Schermerhorn. His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Schermerhorn and Peter Schermerhorn, a wealthy New York City merchant and land owner known as "Peter the Elder". Among his extended family was uncle Abraham Schermerhorn, the father of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, who married William Backhouse Astor Jr. and became the leader of "The Four Hundred." On his mother's side, he was the grandson of John Jones and Eleanor Jones of Jones's Wood. His maternal uncle, Gen. James I. Jones, married his paternal cousin, Elizabeth Schermerhorn. James and Elizabeth were the parents of Eleanor Colford Jones, who married Augustus Newbold Morris. Schermerhorn was educated in private schools in New York before attending Columbia College, where he graduated with honors in 1840. Later, in 1860, Columbia awarded him an honorary A.M. degree and he was made a trustee of the college.
In 1893, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University. In the Spring of 1895, Schermerhorn and University President Seth Low, among others, oversaw the college's move from its old site on 49th Street to its current location in Morningside Heights. To outfit the new campus, Low donated a million dollars for the construction of a Library, and Schermerhorn followed with a $300,000 donation. At the same time, his nephew, F. Augustus Schermerhorn, offered the Townsend Library of National Records to the University. Schermerhorn Hall, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, to the left of Low Memorial Library, along with its twin, Havemeyer Hall, was one of the original buildings on the uptown campus and was devoted to science, with laboratories and lecture rooms for botany, geology and physics.
Personal life
On September 24, 1845, Schermerhorn was married to Ann Elliott Huger Cottonet at Trinity Church. Her father was the French born Francis Cottenet, and her mother was Frances Caroline "Fannie" Laight, a daughter of Major General Edward William Laight of the New York State militia. Ann was also the aunt of Rawlins Lowndes Cottenet. In her youth, Ann was well-known for her beauty, and after her marriage, she became prominent in New York Society. They first lived in the old Schermerhorn residence, on Lafayette Place and 4th Street, which Ann redecorated to resemble Louis XV's Versailles for a French-themed costume ball she gave in 1854 for six hundred New Yorkers, at which the German Cotillion was introduced in America. In 1860, Schermerhorn built the family a large new home at 49 West 23rd Street, which was known for its picture gallery and music rooms and was considered one of the handsomest residences in the city. Together, William and Ann were the parents of:
Fanny Schermerhorn, who married Samuel W. Bridgham, a grandson of Samuel W. Bridgham, in Paris in 1869.
Sarah Schermerhorn, who did not marry and had no children.
Schermerhorn died of pleurisy at his residence on 23rd Street in New York City on January 1, 1903. After a funeral at Grace Church conducted by Rector Dr. William R. Huntington, he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery. He left his entire estate to members of his family, along with a $30,000 annuity to his widow. After his death, his family sold Schermerhorn's remaining portion land of Jones's Wood for $700,000 to John D. Rockefeller for what became Rockefeller University.
