Anthony R. Kuser

Anthony Rudolph Kuser (May 12, 1862 – February 8, 1929) was a businessman and philanthropist who donated the land that makes up New Jersey's highest point and had the monument there built as a war memorial.

Early life Anthony Rudolph Kuser was born on May 12, 1862, in Newark, New Jersey, to Rudolph Kuser (1818–1891) and Rosalie Prieth (1833–1923). His father was originally from Küsnacht on Lake Zurich, emigrating to the United States in 1844. His mother was born in Innsbruck, Austria.

He moved with his family at age 5 to Trenton, New Jersey. His siblings included Frederick Kuser (1859–1937), John Louis Kuser (1862–1937), his twin and the secretary-treasurer of Mercer automobiles, Rudolph Victor Kuser (1865–1931), Louise Kuser (1867–1951), and Benedict Charles Kuser (1870–1930).

He was educated in the parochial schools of Newark and public schools of Hamilton Township, where he studied engineering. and John W. Griggs. He served on the board of railroad assessors and was nominated for state senator from Mercer county, but refused to accept.

In 1910, he purchased the High Point Inn from the estate of Charles St. John and proceeded to remodel it into his personal home although he rarely used it.

In 1915, he lent $200,000 to William Fox to establish Fox Film Corporation, later merged into 20th Century Fox. Together, they had two children, both of whom grew up in the family mansion in Bernardsville, New Jersey which still stands: who was first married to Theodore Wilhelm Herbst, with whom she had a daughter (born 1943). After World War II, Cynthia served as a translator in refugee work in Europe and managed Dryden Press in New York. but had a relationship with Victor Kravchenko (1905–1966), a Soviet defector with whom she had two sons, Anthony (born 1947) and Andrew (born 1950).

In 1916, a Kuser, bought a 250 acre estate in Bernardsville, New Jersey called Blythewood from Henry Rudolph Kunhardt (1860–1923) that was designed by Henry Rutgers Marshall and thought to be worth at least $250,000. After they purchased the home, they had it renovated by Hoppin & Koen and renamed Faircourt.

On February 8, 1929, Kuser died at his estate, Los Incas, a 12-bedroom six-acre oceanfront palazzo estate in the Venetian style in West Palm Beach. After buying the property from subsequent owners in 1978, Los Incas was torn down by Robert W. Gottfried and replaced it with 10 demi-ones which sold for about $3 million each.

Philanthropy In 1922, he donated his home at High Point along with for a state park. In 1927, he selected an architect to design a war memorial on the summit to be modeled on the Bunker Hill Monument. The obelisk was still under construction when he died at his estate in West Palm Beach in 1929.