Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen

Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, New Jersey, to Frederick Frelinghuysen (1788–1820) and Mary Dumont. His father died when he was just three years old, and he was adopted by his uncle,[3] Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862).

His grandfather, Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804), was an eminent lawyer, one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member (1778–1779 and 1782–1783) of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and from 1793 to 1796 a member of the United States Senate.[3]

His uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen, was Attorney General of New Jersey from 1817 to 1829, was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835, was the Whig candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Henry Clay ticket in the 1844 Presidential election, and was Chancellor of New York University from 1839 until 1850 and president of Rutgers College from 1850 to 1862.[3]

Frelinghuysen graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and studied law in Newark with his uncle, to whose practice he succeeded in 1839, after he was admitted to the bar.[2][3]

Following his admission to the bar, he became attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking Company and other corporations.[2]

On January 25, 1842, Frelinghuysen married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold (1817–1889).[6] She was the daughter of George Griswold,[7] a merchant in New York City who "made an immense fortune in the time of the clipper trade with China."[6] Together, they were the parents of three daughters and three sons, including:[7]

• Matilda Griswold Frelinghuysen (1846–1926),[8] who married Henry Winthrop Gray (1840–1906),[9] a prominent merchant[7] in 1889.[10]
• Charlotte Louisa "Lucy" Frelinghuysen (1847–1930),[11] who did not marry.[7]
• Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924),[12] who married Estelle B. Kinney, daughter of Thomas T. Kinney, in 1902.[13]
• George Griswold Frelinghuysen (1851–1936),[14] who married Sara Linen Ballantine, granddaughter of Peter Ballantine, in 1881.[15]
• Sarah Helen Frelinghuysen (1856–1939),[16] who first married Judge John J. Davis (1851–1902), the grandson of Massachusetts governor John Davis. After his death, she married Brig. Gen. Charles Laurie McCawley (1865–1935), the son of Charles G. McCawley, the 8th Commandant of the Marine Corps, in 1906.[16]
• Theodore Frelinghuysen (1860–1928),[17] who married Alice Dudley Coats (1861–1889) in 1885.[18] After her death, he married Elizabeth Mary "Lily" (née Thompson) Cannon, a daughter of William G. Thompson and descendant of Elijah Brush, both Mayors of Detroit, and the widow of Henry Lee Grand Cannon.[17]

Frelinghuysen died at Newark on May 20, 1885, aged 67.[1] He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark.[19][20][21] His widow died a few years later in February 1889.[6]

Notes

Sources

• "Frelinghuysen, Theodorus Jacobus" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.

• Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen at Find a Grave
• United States Congress. "Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (id: F000369)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biographical information for Frederick T. Frelinghuysen from the Political Graveyard