Stephen Henry Olin

Stephen Henry Olin (April 22, 1847 – August 6, 1925) his father's second wife after his first marriage to Mary Bostwick. His father, a lawyer who became an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church,

His maternal grandfather was James Lynch. His paternal grandparents were U.S. Representative from Vermont Henry Olin, and Lois Richardson Olin. His grandfather was the nephew of Gideon Olin and a cousin of Abram B. Olin, both of whom also served as members of the House of Representatives from Vermont. where his father had served as the second president and where he was a longtime trustee. (Olin was the first trustee elected by the alumni and served as a trustee of Wesleyan University for 45 years.) In 1925, while in ill health, he traveled to Middletown, Connecticut, to witness the installation of President Dr. James L. McConaughy, who later served as Lt. Governor and Governor of Connecticut after he was president of the university.

Following his death, the University paid tribute to Olin with a memorial service at the college chapel presided by the president of the board of trustees.

Society life In 1892, Olin was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. Olin was one of the founders of the Players Club, a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Century Club, the University Club, the City Club, and the Downtown Club.

In 1742 Judge Robert R. Livinston of Clermont, married Margaret, the only surviving child and heiress of Col. Henry Beekman of Rhinebeck. Their daughter Margaret (1749-1823) married Dr. Thomas Tillotson of Maryland on February 22, 1779. Between 1788 and 1790 he established a country place and called it "Linwood." Tillotson also obtained another part of the Beekman lands, twenty-nine acres of woodland lying east of Fallsburgh Creek, which passes through two beautiful waterfalls before reaching the Hudson River. Alice's brother was the lawyer and jurist Peter Townsend Barlow. Together, they were the parents of:

Alice Townsend Olin (1881–1963), who married Tracy Dows (1871–1937) in 1903. Julia Lynch Olin (1882–1961), who married J. Philip Benkard in 1902. They divorced in 1920 and she married Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, the former Lt. Gov. of New York in 1921.

After his wife's death in 1882 at the age of 29, he remarried to Emeline Harriman (1860–1938), the widow of William Earl Dodge III, in 1903. Emeline had two children from her first marriage, William Earl Dodge IV, and Annie Cleveland Dodge.

Olin died at his home, 400 Park Avenue in New York City on August 6, 1925, and his funeral was held at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue. After his death, his widow remarried to Howland Spencer on December 15, 1931. They divorced in the spring of 1938, and she resumed using the Olin surname until her death in August 1938.

Legacy The Olin Library at Wesleyan University was named after Olin and his father.