Isaac Bronson

Dr. Isaac Bronson (March 10, 1760 in Middlebury, CT – May 19, 1838 in Greenfield Hill) was a surgeon during the American Revolutionary War. He was later a successful banker and land speculator and is credited with co-founding the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company and Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company. Bronson was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Early life Bronson was born on March 10, 1760, in Middlebury, Connecticut. He was the son of Captain Isaac Bronson (1736–1826) and Mary Bronson (d. 1810), and the older brother of Ethel Bronson (1765–1825), who married Hepzibah Hopkins Bronson (1768–1829) and Eunice (nee Richards) Bronson (1716–1749).

Later career After the War, Isaac Bronson became interested in foreign commerce and traveled as far as China, returning with valuable cargo which he sold at a profit. Bronson then pursued a career in purchasing and selling government obligations. He invested in the new American government's debt, assisted by many friends from former officers, including Alexander Hamilton, who had become the first Secretary of the Treasury in Washington's first cabinet. in some cases purchasing it for ten cents on the dollar. When the debt recovered to its face value, he had made a fortune. Bronson also invested in the Bank of the United States. and Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company.

By 1828, he was one of the wealthiest men in New York City, with assets of more than $250,000. Bronson also owned and invested in considerable real estate holdings throughout New York. Utilizing capital from the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, among other banks, they purchased nearly one-third of a million acres of land across eight states, including North Carolina, Bronson was competing against John Jacob Astor, who also acquired a vast real estate portfolio.

Personal life Portrait of Mrs. Isaac Bronson, circa 1805, by John Trumbull On August 30, 1789, three months after his last trip to China, he married Anna Olcott (1765–1850), the daughter of Thomas Olcott. They moved to Hartford, then Philadelphia, and eventually in New York City. Together, they had ten children, two of whom died in infancy. Their children included:

Oliver Bronson, who died in infancy Maria Bronson, who also died in infancy Maria Bronson (1793–1851), who married Col. James Boyles Murray (1789–1866), the son of wealthy English born merchant John Murray and grandson of Sir James Murray, Lord Philiphaugh. Harriet Bronson (1798–1886) Arthur Bronson (1801–1844), who married Ann Eliza Bailey (d. 1878), He is credited with planting the first dogwood trees along Bronson Road where today there is a yearly Dogwood Festival.

Descendants Through his daughter Caroline, he was the grandfather of Harriet Bronson Willett (1839–1911), who married Charles Burrall Hoffman (1821–1892), the son of Ogden Hoffman and brother of Ogden Hoffman, Jr., in 1860. Their daughter, Emily Burrall Hoffman (1861–1942), married Maj. Gen. Villiers Hatton, CB (1852–1914), the Commander of British Troops in South China, in 1897.

Through his son Frederic, he was the grandfather of Frederic Bronson (1851–1900), who married Sarah Gracie King (1850–1931). She was the daughter of Archibald Gracie King and Elizabeth Denning (née Duer) King, and the granddaughter of U.S. Representative James Gore King and William Alexander Duer. She was also the sister of May Denning King, who married John King Van Rensselaer, son of Henry Bell Van Rensselaer and grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer III, the patroon of Rensselaerwyck.