Walter W. Law

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Walter William Law
Briarcliff Manor
Spouse
Georgianna Ransom Law
​
​
(m. 1866; died 1910)​
Children
  • Georgia R. Penman
  • Carrie Law-Fotterall
  • Walter W. Law Jr.
  • Edith Bird Brockelman
  • Henry Herbert Law
  • Arthur Law
  • Martha Janet Macey
Parent(s)John and Elizabeth Bird Law

Walter William Law

Westchester County.[1][nb 2]

Walter Law was born in

Whitson's Corners, New York, he developed the surrounding farmland into a suburban village. Law died in 1924 in Summerville, South Carolina, during rest cure
treatment.

Early life

A young man with sideburns wearing a suit
Walter Law c. 1860

Walter Law was born on November 13, 1837, in the English town of Kidderminster.[2] He was one of ten children born to John and Elizabeth Bird Law, who were strict Nonconformists.[3] His father sold carpets and dry goods; at the time, Kidderminster was a center of carpet manufacturing in Britain. Law was educated in private schools in Kidderminster;[2] however, he left school and began working as a cash boy for a draper at the age of fourteen.[4] Shortly after the United Kingdom's election of 1859, the Law family left Kidderminster, many to Australia.[5] That year, Law moved to the United States, having gained an interest in the US after reading about it.[3] He left England with letters of introduction written by his father, which were addressed to friends in the American carpet business; he also had enough money to last for about two weeks. He arrived in New York City on January 22, 1860.[6]: 5 

Career

Law originally found a job as a traveling carpet salesman. He continued until he discovered that his employer was misrepresenting domestic rugs as being imported and was also charging premium prices. His next employer, an outfitter of steamships and hotels, went out of business in the 1860s, when the American Civil War affected the business.[6]: 5  Law struggled through unemployment,[3] and even while working, pay was low. At one point, Law was employed at a store and was making eight dollars a week.[7]

Later on, Law contacted William Sloane, head of W. & J. Sloane. Sloane hired him more out of kindness than need for employees. In 1866, at the age of 29, Law began work under Sloane with wages of $1 a day.[4] After four years of employment, Walter Law became a partner in the company[3] and later became a trustee for life.[4] Originally Law mostly worked in mostly retail, but with the Civil War, wholesale demands increased, and Law's time spent working in wholesale increased until he became devoted to it exclusively.[5]

Law first came to Yonkers due to him marketing the products of the

Yonkers for the manufacture of moquette carpets. Walter Law increased the business of Sloane's wholesale department by securing their account; he eventually became a stockholder and member of the Yonkers company's board of directors. Law and his wife moved to Hillcrest,[8] at 354 Palisade Avenue in Yonkers,[9] making it easier for him to service the Smith account. He later became a vice president of W. & J. Sloane, and also joined its board of directors.[6]: 5 [10]
: 31 

Briarcliff Manor developments

Portrait of an old balding man in a suit
The last photograph taken of Walter Law, in December 1923

If a Cobbler by trade, I'll make it my pride
The best of all Cobblers to be;
And if only a Tinker, no Tinker on earth
Shall mend an old Kettle like me.

Posted at Dalmeny,[11]: 67  and given to Law
by his father when he was eight or nine.[12]: 13 

An old street map
1908 map of Briarcliff Manor showing the numerous large parcels Law owned at the time

In 1890, Walter Law began purchasing property in the present-day village of Briarcliff Manor. That year, Law paid James Stillman $35,000 ($1,186,900 in 2023

Pound Ridge, and Glenville, Connecticut.[10]: 35  Law's farm began with rough farmland, a few cattle, and little knowledge of farming, but it eventually grew. At the farm's peak, Law had 500 workers caring for more than 1,000 cattle, 500 pigs, 4,000 chickens, Thoroughbred horses, pheasants, peacocks and sheep.[14] Law believed that farming can pay off if it utilized scientific principles, and that the farm should find the best markets and hold them by producing the best products.[15]

Around the same time, he established the Briarcliff Table Water Company and the Briarcliff Greenhouses. The water company sold its products in five cities, and owned 250-foot (76 m) wells.

kumyss was sent to New York City on the New York and Putnam Railroad. Law's greenhouse space grew to 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2), and his roses earned up to $100,000 each year. As many as 8,000 roses were shipped from Briarcliff Greenhouses daily, most of them to New York City.[18] In 1902, Law built the Briarcliff Lodge on the highest point of his estate;[12] it was the first hotel in Westchester County.[19]

Stone mansion on a hill
The Manor House as it looked during Law's residence there

Law also developed the village, establishing schools, churches, and parks. He donated land for the

Pine Plains, New York; he then began developing his properties for houses, churches, and schools instead. In 1909, Law formed the Briarcliff Lodge Association to run the hotel, and the Briarcliff Realty Company to sell the original Briarcliff Farms property. His son, Henry, presided over the realty company until 1936. In 1908, during the Briarcliff Manor-sponsored First American International Road Race, Law donated and presented the Briarcliff Trophy, valued at over $10,000 ($339,100 in 2023[13]).[10]: 82–3 [11]: 12  In 1918, Walter Law sold his Briarcliff Farms land in Pine Plains.[12]

Later life and death

A rectangular gravestone
A small family plot in a cemetery
Walter Law's gravestone and family plot

Walter Law died in Summerville, South Carolina, on January 17, 1924. He had gone alone to Summerville for rest cure treatment. After the news of his death spread, Law's son, Henry, left for Summerville. Law's funeral was held at the Briarcliff Congregational Church three days later.[21] He was buried with his wife and two of his children in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.[11]: 67 [22]

On February 1, 1924, Law's will was filed with county surrogate George A. Slater in White Plains. His estate was approximately $5 million, the majority of which was divided equally between his children. They also each received 25 shares of the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet company's stock and scrip and 250 shares of the Nairn Linoleum Company. Law's friends, servants, and employees received from $500 to $5,000. He also bequeathed $13,500 to his longtime nurse and secretary Ida Z. Thompson. Law's son Henry inherited the family's Briarcliff Manor house, and Law's daughter Georgia inherited the family's summer house, formerly the C.H. Burnham house, in Jefferson, New Hampshire.[23]

Family and personal life

A man and woman, formally dressed, posing for a photograph
Walter Law with his wife c. 1885
Four girls
Daughters (left to right): Georgie, Martha, Carolyn, and Edith

Law had three sons and four daughters with his wife, Georgianna Hitt (née Ransom) Law, whom he married on January 4, 1866, at 152 Second Avenue in New York City. She lived from 1839 to September 18, 1910.[2] Their children were Georgia "Georgie" R. Penman (born November 10, 1866), Carrie Law-Fotterall (b. September 10, 1869), Walter W. Law Jr. (b. July 15, 1871), Edith Bird Brockelman (b. April 10, 1874), Arthur Law (January 11, 1876 – January 23, 1877), Henry Herbert Law (February 28, 1878 – November 18, 1936), and Martha Janet Macey (b. March 10, 1880).[2]

During their life at Briarcliff Manor, Law owned the Manor House on Scarborough Road. Law later built houses for Henry, Walter Jr., and Edith on the Briarcliff Lodge property on Scarborough Road. The three houses were named Hillcrest, Six Gables, and Mt. Vernon, and all three still stand.[10]: 65 

From Carmino Ravosa's Briarcliff show:
The Laird of Briarcliff Manor
Only the Best is Good Enough
This Is His Town This is His Village
Problems playing these files? See media help.

Walter Law was a friend of

Old Croton Aqueduct during World War I.[28] In 1892, Law also received an honorary Master of Arts degree in agriculture from Yale University.[11]: 65 [29]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Walter Law was sometimes referred to as Walter William Law Sr., to distinguish him from his son.
  2. William Rockefeller together owned more land in the county than Law.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Westchester Excels Nevada" (PDF). The New York Times. December 26, 1904. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Builders of Our Nation: Men of 1913. Chicago, Illinois: American Publishers' Association. 1914. pp. 298–299. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e Carnegie, Andrew (May 16, 1908). "The Laird of Briarcliff". The Outlook: 107–111.
  4. ^ a b c "A veteran of the Carpet Trade". Kidderminster Shuttle. June 9, 1923. p. 3.
  5. ^ a b "Walter W. Law". Kidderminster Shuttle. June 28, 1890. p. 5. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d Midge Bosak, ed. (1977). A Village Between Two Rivers: Briarcliff Manor. Monarch Publishing, Inc.
  7. ^ "Veterans in Business Life" (PDF). The New York Times. February 10, 1908. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  8. ^ "Marriage of a Daughter of Mr. Walter W. Law". Kidderminster Shuttle. December 19, 1891. p. 3. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  9. ^ "The Weddings of a Day: Fotterall—Law" (PDF). The New York Times. November 18, 1891. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  10. ^
    OL 1884671M
    .
  11. ^
    OCLC 24569093
    .
  12. ^
    OL 3314243M
    .
  13. ^ a b c 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  14. ISBN 0-88427-016-5
    .
  15. ^ Bacon, Edgar Mayhew (May 1902). Bailey, L. H. (ed.). "The Inspiration of a Great Farm". Country Life in America. 2 (1). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Doubleday, Page & Co.: 12. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  16. ^ Pattison, Robert (1939). A History of Briarcliff Manor. William Rayburn.
  17. ^ Blossom, Mary C. (1901). Page, Walter Hines (ed.). "The New Farming and a New Life". The World's Work. 3. Doubleday, Page & Company: 1625–1637.
  18. ISBN 0-912882-96-4
    .
  19. ^ Charles, Eleanor (May 17, 1987). "Westchester Guide". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  20. ^ Gelard, Donna (2002). Explore Briarcliff Manor: A driving tour. Contributing Editor Elsie Smith; layout and typography by Lorraine Gelard; map, illustrations, and calligraphy by Allison Krasner. Briarcliff Manor Centennial Committee.
  21. ^ "Walter W. Law Dies in the South" (PDF). The New York Times. January 19, 1924. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  22. ^ Scott, Robert (April 30, 2012). "Walter W. Law, 2: Briarcliff Lodge, the Fabulous "Hotel Beautiful"" (PDF). The Westchester Guardian. p. 10. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  23. ^ "W. W. Law's Estate Worth Over 5 Millions" (PDF). The Daily Argus. International News Service. February 2, 1924. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  24. LCCN ca08003059
    . Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  25. ^ a b Club Men of New York, 1901-2. New York, New York: W. S. Rossiter. 1901. pp. 40, 449. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  26. doi:10.1086/120965
    .
  27. New York, New York
    : Who's Who Publications, Inc. p. 649. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  28. OL 6620257M
    . Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  29. ^ The Yale Banner. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University. 1892. p. 114.

External links

Media related to Walter Law at Wikimedia Commons

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