William Jay Schieffelin ( New York City, April 14, 1866 – April 29, 1955), was an American businessman and philanthropist.[1]

Early life

William Jay Schieffelin was the first son of William Henry Schieffelin and Mary Jay Schieffelin.[2]

William’s mother was the daughter of John Jay, who was the grandson of John Jay. His paternal ancestors were Jacob Schieffelin and Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin.[3]

Personal life

William Jay Schieffelin married Maria Louise Shepard, eldest daughter of Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard and Elliott Fitch Shepard, in 1891. The wedding of Maria Louise and William was a highly social event and reflected the splendor of the Gilded Age.[4] The wedding took place at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and in the grand picture gallery of William Vanderbilt’s double villa at Fifth Avenue.

The couple had nine children: William Jay,[5] Margaret Louisa, Mary Jay, John Jay,[6] Louise,[7] Bayard,[8] Elliott, Barbara,[9] and Henry.

The family lived on 5 East 66th Street (the building is owned by the Lotos Club since 1947) and moved to 620 Park Avenue in 1925. They also had an estate on Schieffelin Point pensinsula in Maine.

Military service

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, William Jay Schieffelin served as a volunteer captain and regimental adjutant of the 12th Regiment of the National Guard.[10]

In World War I, he was Colonel of the 369th Infantry. The 15th Regiment was a colored unit. These first African American and Afro-Puerto Rican units had white officers. They served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France.

Career

William Jay Schieffelin attended Trinity School in Manhattan.

He received further education at the Columbia School of Mines, where he graduated as Ph.B. and member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1887. At Columbia he studied chemistry under Professor Charles F. Chandler.[11]

He then studied for two years at the University of Munich with Professor von Baeyer and received his Ph.D. in chemistry cum laude in 1889.[12][10]

Schieffelin & Co

Back in Manhattan, William Jay Schieffelin had been a partner in Schieffelin & Co since 1890, its vice president since 1903, its president 1906–1923 and its chairman of board 1923–1929.[10][11] He managed Schieffelin & Co in the 5th generation after Jacob Schieffelin (1757–1835), who founded the company in 1794 (then Lawrence & Schieffelin, Pharma-Trade, at 195 Pearl Street in Manhattan).[3][13] Schieffelin & Co was America's longest-running pharmaceutical business.

In 1889, William Jay Schieffelin began work in the analytical department of Schieffelin & Co and the company's laboratory, which was on Front Street in Manhattan. His routine work was assaying opium and coca leaves and standardizing concentrated Ethyl nitrite. At that time cocaine was in large demand for local anesthesia, and Schieffelin & Co imported large quantities of coca leaves from Bolivia and Peru, and became the leading manufacturers of the hydrochloride.[11]

Committee work and social commitment

William Jay Schieffelin's social commitment extended to many associations and institutions:

Drug Act of 1906

In 1906, Congress formed a committee to clarify why the United States had a problem with addictive substances in pharmaceutical products, and how this problem could be avoided. William Jay Schieffelin was summoned as an expert before Congress to contribute to the clarification. The statements of William Jay Schieffelin and other experts led to a tightening of drug laws in the USA.[30] The Pure Food and Drug Act was enacted by Congress in 1906.

Death

William Jay Schieffelin died on April 29, 1955, six years after his wife Maria Louise.

References

  1. ^ Scheufele, Michael (2022). Jacob Scheuffelin, currently in Pennsylvania … Five Hundred Years of the Schieffelin Family (PDF). Darmstadt, Germany: wbg Academic. pp. 145–156. ISBN 978-3534450060.
  2. ^ "John Jay Homestead • Mary Jay Schieffelin". johnjayhomestead.org. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  3. ^ a b Lukesh, Susan S. (October 2, 2012). "Jacob Schieffelin (1757-1835)". Immigrant Entrepreneurship. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  4. ^ "Maria Louise Vanderbilt Shepard". Ephemeral New York. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  5. ^ Prial, Frank J. (1985-05-03). "WILLIAM JAY SCHIEFFELIN JR., 94, IMPORTER OF WINES AND SPIRITS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  6. ^ "John J. Schieffelin, 89, Dies; Led English-Speaking Union". The New York Times. 1987-05-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  7. ^ "A.S. HEWITT TO WED MISS SCHIEFFELIN; Late Mayor's Grandson Is Engaged to Daughter of Mr. andMrs. Wm. Jay Schieffelin.UNION OF NOTED FAMILIES Bride-to-Be Is Great-Great-Granddaughter of John Jay and Com. Cornelius Vanderbilt". The New York Times. 1922-06-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  8. ^ "Bayard Schieffelin, 85, An Ex-Library Official". The New York Times. 1989-04-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  9. ^ Stage, Photo by Mrs W. Burden (1930-09-30). "MISS SCHIEFELIN ENGAGED TO MARRY; Her Troth to C.I.C. Bosanquet Told by Her Parents, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Schieffelin. BOTH OF NOTED ANCESTRY Fiancee, a Kin of John Jay, Has Been a Research Worker--Her Fiance a London Banker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Schieffelin, William Jay (1866-1955) · Jane Addams Digital Edition". digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Jay Schieffelin, William; Albertson, Dean (1949). "Reminiscences of William Jay Schieffelin (1949), page 2, Oral History Experiment, Oral History Archives at Columbia, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York". DLC Catalog. doi:10.7916/d8-p0k1-y736. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  12. ^ a b c "William Jay Schieffelin (1866-1955) - HouseHistree". househistree.com. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  13. ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Schieffelin family papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  14. ^ "SCHIEFFELIN HEADS DRUG CLUB AT FAIR; Becomes Honorary President of Center for the Trade at Hall of Pharmacy PROGRAM IS THREEFOLD Aims Are Social and to Work for Better Intra-lndustry and Public Relations". The New York Times. 1938-12-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  15. ^ Raubenheimer, Otto (1927-11-01). "Schieffelin & Co.—The oldest wholesale drug house in New York City*". The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (1912). 16 (11): 1071–1073. doi:10.1002/jps.3080161113.
  16. ^ Schieffelin, Wm. Jay (1911). "Work of the Committee of One Hundred on National Health". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 37 (2): 77–86. doi:10.1177/000271621103700206. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1011068. S2CID 220849908.
  17. ^ "History". American Leprosy Missions. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  18. ^ leprosyhealthcare. "About". leprosyhealthcare. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  19. ^ "John Jay Homestead • Jay Family Stories: John Jay II and the Huguenot Society of America". johnjayhomestead.org. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  20. ^ "Guests shown at the private preview of the exhibition 'Young Negro Art,' the work of students at Hampton Institute, in the Young People's Gallery in the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd St., New York, October 5, 1943". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  21. ^ "FRIENDS OF TUSKEGEE READY TO CELEBRATE; Schieffelin and Others Leave for 50th Anniversary of School-- Hoover to Speak Over Radio". The New York Times. 1931-04-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  22. ^ "FUND FOR HAMPTON.; Armstrong Association Hears Plans for Extending Work Among Negroes". The New York Times. 1905-01-19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  23. ^ Congress, Library of (2016-04-08), English: William Jay Schieffelin In the First World War he was a colonel of the 369th Infantry, the Fifteenth Regiment, a "colored" unit., retrieved 2023-07-02
  24. ^ "SCHIEFFELIN GETS THREATS IN LETTERS; Head of Committee of 1,000 Scoffs at Missives Warning Him to Drop Inquiry. LAUDS PUBLIC RESPONSE Many Joining In Civic Move Ask Their Identity Be Kept Secret-- Lawyers Study Complaints. Many Volunteers Fear Reprisals. Lawyers Investigating Complaints. Some Organizations Decline". The New York Times. 1931-03-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  25. ^ "MR. SCHIEFFELIN SWORN IN.; New Civil Service Commissioner Will Begin His Duties at Once". The New York Times. 1896-11-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  26. ^ Neuman, Johanna (2017-07-23). "Who Won Women's Suffrage? A Case for "Mere Men"". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 16 (3): 347–367. doi:10.1017/S1537781417000081. ISSN 1537-7814.
  27. ^ "SCHIEFFELIN PRAISES ANTI-NAZI BOYCOTT; He Tells Jewish Groups It Has Been Effective Weapon". The New York Times. 1939-03-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  28. ^ "366 SIGN PLEDGE TO BOYCOTT NAZIS; Leaders in 117 Cities in U.S. Back Christian Committee's Protest on Policies". The New York Times. 1939-03-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  29. ^ "Century Archives – The Century Association Archives Foundation". centuryarchives.org. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  30. ^ Musto, David F. (2002-03-07). "The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act" (PDF) (PDF).

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