George A. Jarvis

George Atwater Jarvis (March 9, 1806 – May 3, 1893) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Jarvis was successful in retail and wholesale grocery, banking, and insurance industries in New York. He was founder and vice president of South Brooklyn Savings Institution and president of the Lenox Fire Insurance Company. He sat on the board or was a trustee for many organizations.

As the result of his success, Jarvis was able to be a contributor and founder of a number of educational, historical, religious, and other efforts. His donations helped establish the Episcopalian Jarvis Hall, a college for males in Golden, Colorado; Wolfe Hall in Denver for girls; Bronson Hall at Cheshire Academy; and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He wrote a book about the genealogical lineage of the Jarvis family. Jarvis was married three times and had one child, Mary Caroline who married Dr. Frederick J. Bancroft in Denver.

Early years

George Atwater Jarvis was born on March 9, 1806, in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was the son of Stephen and Mary Ann Atwater Jarvis, His father was treasurer and warden at the St. Peter's church. Both of his parents were devout Episcopalians. His grandfather was Hezekiah Jarvis.

Jarvis had a brother, Benjamin and other siblings. The house was built for the bishop about 1797 when he became a trustee of the newly opened Episcopalian academy in Cheshire. Noah hired his nephew to assist him in the collection of assessments and he performed well. Noah provided a loan so that George could establish a grocery business near Broadway on Grand Street. George repaid the loan, with interest, within several years. He cofounded a wholesale grocery business, Stanton and Jarvis, during which time it had acquired a $90,000 surplus after having been "crippled". He retired in 1881.

New York and other eastern states

Jarvis made large donations to the Christ Church in Brooklyn and his hometown St. Peter's Church. The Cheshire Academy received funds for the construction of Bronson Hall from Jarvis. He also provided scholarships for the Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown. He purchased land in Denver for Bishop Randall, his daughter, the Diocese to build a church, other charities, and personal investment.

Wolfe Hall

Jarvis donated funds for the development of Wolfe Hall, an Episcopal school for girls in Denver. It was located at Champa and 17th Street. Jarvis was the largest contributor to the territorial activities of Bishop Randall. which opened in September 1868. Bishop Randall lived at Wolfe Hall with his wife.

Jarvis Hall

Jarvis created an endowment to found Jarvis Hall, a liberal arts, grammar and military college for males in 1869 that was a predecessor of the Colorado School of Mines. Randall coordinated the creation of the university in Golden, Colorado, which operated from 1870 until 1874, when it was destroyed by a fire. The site is now part of the Lowry Campus.

Military service During the time that Davis was managing his business, he had also served in the National Guard of the City of New York from September 1, 1832, to June 4, 1841, when he was honorably discharged.

Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, appointed Jarvis as a War Committee member in 1862. Rather than serve in the New York Seventh regiment, Jarvis hired someone to serve in his stead. This was a practice that other businessmen and friends utilized. He was a member of the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York. Jarvis married his second wife, Mary McLean on February 11, 1836. She was the daughter of Cornelius McLean of New York. Maria Jenkins, his third wife, was the daughter of Lewis Jenkins of Canandaigua, New York, and then Buffalo.

His only surviving child was Mary Caroline that he had with his second wife, Mary McLean Jarvis. Unable to approve of his daughter's suitor, Jarvis broke their relationship and arranged for Mary Caroline to travel to Europe for a "Grand Tour", which did not relieve her broken heart. Mary Caroline contracted tuberculosis after throwing herself "arduously into church work".

Mary Caroline came to Denver with Bishop George M. Randall to cure her case of tuberculosis. During an extended trip to celebrate his daughter's wedding, Jarvis bought four lots that the couple could build a house upon at the southwest corner of Stout and 16th Street.

Jarvis moved to Brooklyn in 1841 and three years later had a house built there. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Among the charities that Javis left money to in his will, the largest was for construction of Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut.