31 March 1841(1841-03-31) (aged 83) New York City, New York, USA
Spouse
Hannah Cornell
(m. 1786; died 1818)
Parent(s)
Jacob LeRoy Cornelia Rutgers
Herman LeRoy (January 16, 1758 – March 31, 1841) was an American merchant, shipowner and banker.
Early life
He was born on January 16, 1758, in New York City in what was then the Province of New York, a part of British America. He was the son of Jacob LeRoy (1727–1793) and Cornelia (née Rutgers) LeRoy (1736–1765). Among his siblings were Mary Ann LeRoy (who married John Livingston), Jacob Leroy (who married Martha Banyer), Robert Leroy (who married Catherine Cuyler) and Elizabeth (who married Julian McEvers). His father, who was born in Rotterdam, was a merchant and alderman of New York City.[1]
In 1786, he was consul-general for Holland. In 1788, he went into business with his wife's brother-in-law, William Bayard Jr., and founded LeRoy, Bayard & Co. which later became LeRoy, Bayard & McEvers when he introduced his brother-in-law, Julian McEvers.[3] It again became LeRoy, Bayard & Co. after McEver's death. The firm was one the largest commercial house in New York City, shipping goods and trading product throughout the world.[4] By 1792, LeRoy and Bayard represented the Holland Land Company, which owned roughly 3 million acres of land in Western New York, and between the two of them, they owned 300,000-acres.[5] In 1813, he founded the town of LeRoy in Genesee County which was incorporated in 1834.[6]
On October 19, 1786, LeRoy was married to Hannah Cornell (1760–1818), a daughter of Susannah (née Mabson) Cornell and Loyalist Samuel Cornell, a descendant of settler Thomas Cornell.[9] Hannah's father died in 1781 in British-controlled New York, having moved there from North Carolina after 1777 after refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance to the new United States. Her sister, Elizabeth Cornell, was the wife of William Bayard Jr. They lived at 4 Bowling Green before moving to 7 Broadway where he built a white marble house. He also owned a country home in Pelham, New York, where his daughter, Caroline, married Daniel Webster. He was one of only 15-New Yorkers who then owned a carriage. Together, they were the parents of had ten children who survived to adulthood, including:[9]
Cornelia LeRoy (1787–1860), who married William Edgar, only son of William Edgar.[10]
Catharine Augusta LeRoy (1790–1835), who married Thomas Haines Newbold, a son of Caleb Newbold and Sarah (née Haines) Newbold.[11][12]
Herman LeRoy Jr. (1791–1869), who married Juliet Edgar, a daughter of William Edgar, in 1813.[13]
Susan LeRoy (1793–1832), who married Judge David Samuel Jones, a son of ComptrollerSamuel Jones and Cornelia (née Haring) Jones, and brother to Chancellor Samuel Jones.[14]
Jacob Rutgers LeRoy (1794–1868),[6] who built Le Roy House and married Charlotte Downes Otis, a daughter of Thomas Otis.[15]