Charles Cary Rumsey

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Charles Cary Rumsey
Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo
Spouse
77th Infantry Division
Battles/warsWorld War I

Charles Cary Rumsey (August 29, 1879 – September 21, 1922) was an American sculptor and an eight-goal polo player.

Early life

Rumsey was born on August 29, 1879, in Buffalo, New York. He was the son of Laurence Dana Rumsey, a successful local businessman, and Jennie (née Cary) Rumsey. His siblings included Evelyn Rumsey, who married Rev. Walter R. Lord in 1922; Gertrude Rumsey, who married Carlton Smith; Grace Rumsey, who married Charles W. Goodyear Jr. (son of Charles W. Goodyear) in 1908; and Laurence Dana Rumsey Jr.[1]

His maternal uncles included Seward Cary, a polo-player, and George Cary, a prominent architect. His maternal great-grandfather was Trumbull Cary, a New York State Senator and former New York State Bank Commissioner.[1]

As a child, Charles learned to play polo at a young age from his uncle and friend,

Boston Art School before going to Paris, France, in 1902 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, where his uncle, George Cary, studied from 1886 until 1889.[1]

Career

Brownsville War Memorial

While still a student at Harvard, he exhibited a sculpture of an Indian at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901.

He worked mainly in

Thomas Hitchcock, and World Champion trotter Nancy Hanks[2] for John E. Madden
.

The triumphal arch and colonnade at the Manhattan entrance to the Manhattan Bridge

When Rumsey returned from Paris in 1906, he established himself in an

E.H. Harriman, called Arden; he did a fireplace surround and other sculptural decorations for the music room there, as well as the "Three Graces Fountain."[3] During this time he courted Harriman's daughter, Mary Harriman; they both shared a love of horses and had first met at the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association races on Long Island. They married in 1910, much to the surprise of New York society.[4] They maintained a home in Brookville, New York
, on Long Island, where they raised three children.

Among Rumsey's other works, he did a

Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo (where Rumsey is buried), and the controversial figure of a nude woman called "The Pagan."[5] Perhaps his most celebrated work is the 1916 frieze on Carrère and Hastings' Manhattan Bridge
in New York City, titled "Buffalo Hunt."

Service in World War I and later life

During

77th Infantry Division and Fortieth Engineers, United States Army Corps of Engineers. His brother, Laurence Dana Rumsey, Jr. (1885–1967), was a pilot in the War with the famous Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps
.

His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[6]

Personal life

Rumsey with his wife and children

In 1910, Rumsey married

E.H. Harriman and sister to W. Averell Harriman, former New York state governor and United States diplomat. In 2015 she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.[8]
Together they had three children:

On September 21, 1922, Charles Rumsey was a passenger in an automobile that crashed into a stone bridge abutment on the

Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.[13]

He was posthumously inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 2011.[14]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Charles, he was posthumously a grandfather of three,[9] Charles, Peter, and Celia Cary. In 1976, Charles, a graduate of Phillips Exeter, Harvard College and Harvard Law School, married Martha Zec, daughter of Dr. Branko Zec of Beverly Hills, California, with Pony Duke (the nephew of Doris Duke) as best man. Cary, a lawyer in New York, also lived in Wyoming, where he runs the Wood River Ranch, a dude ranch and outfitter.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c LaChiusa, Chuck. "The Rumsey Family of Buffalo, N Y". buffaloah.com. Buffalo Architecture and History. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. ^ "Nancy Hanks", The Lewiston Daily Sun, October 1, 1915
  3. ISBN 9780847835645
    .
  4. ^ "A Young Sculptor Wins E.H. Harriman's Daughter," New York Times 1910 article
  5. ^ "Nude Figure Wins After Court Move", The New York Times, March 22, 1921
  6. ^ "Charles Cary Rumsey". Olympedia. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  7. ^ Staff (May 5, 1910). "MISS MARY HARRIMAN TO WED A SCULPTOR Friends Learn of Her Engagement to Charles Cary Rumsey of Buffalo". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  8. ^ "10 women honored at Hall of Fame induction". Democratandchronicle.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Paid Notice: Deaths RUMSEY, CHARLES CARY JR". The New York Times. May 17, 2007. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  10. ^ "1,000 AT BALL GIVEN FOR MARY RUMSEY; Guests Invited to Come to Debutante Party on Long Island in Overalls. EVENT LIKE A BARN DANCE Decorations Are Cornstalks and Vegetables – Ham and Eggs and Apple Sauce for Supper". The New York Times. September 17, 1932. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  11. ^ "GIVES PIZARRO STATUE TO CITY OF TRUJILLO; Mrs. Mary Harriman Rumsey Visits Spain to Select Site for the Monument". The New York Times. April 16, 1925. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  12. ^ "AIR VICTIMS' BODIES HERE; Plane Serves as Hearse for Roosevelt and Rumsey". The New York Times. April 22, 1939. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Charles C. Rumsey Dies in Auto Crash on Jericho Turnpike", The New York Times, September 22, 1922
  14. ^ "Hall of Fame". Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  15. ^ "Nuptials Held On Long Island For Martha Zec". The New York Times. December 5, 1976. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Cary Rumsey.
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