William Jay

William Jay (February 12, 1841 – March 28, 1915) was an American soldier and a lawyer. He served in the Union Army as a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War. He served as the 40th President of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York.

Early life Jay was born on February 12, 1841. He was the only son born to John Jay (1817–1894), a lawyer and diplomat, and Eleanor Kingsland (née Field) Jay (1819–1909). He was the brother of Eleanor (née Jay) Chapman, wife of Henry Grafton Chapman Jr. (the president of the New York Stock Exchange, son of abolitionist Maria Weston Chapman, and father of John Jay Chapman); John S. Jay, who died young; Augusta (née Jay) Robinson, wife of Edmund Randolph Robinson (son of prominent civil engineer Moncure Robinson); and Mary (née Jay) Schieffelin, wife of William Henry Schieffelin (son of author Samuel Schieffelin).

Jay entered Columbia College, graduating in 1859.

After the War ended, Jay returned to Columbia where he entered the law school, graduating in 1868. Upon passing the bar exam, he entered into a partnership with Flamen B. Chandler known as Jay & Chandler and located at 48 Wall Street. Chandler was formerly the partner of Edgar S. Van Winkle, who in turn had been partners with Daniel Webster. Jay focused his extensive practice on important trusts and estates as well as railroad an industrial matters. He was also attorney for James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher of the New York Herald. He was also one of the earliest members of the Westminster Polo Club and serving as president of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club in Long Island.

He was a member of the City Club, the Century Club, the Knickerbocker Club, the Sons of the Revolution, the New-York Historical Society, the American Geographical Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and former president of The Huguenot Society of America.

Personal life In June 1878, Jay was married to Lucie Oelrichs (1854–1931). Lucie was the daughter of Henry Ferdinand Oelrichs, a leading New York merchant, and Julia Matilda (née May) Oelrichs, and the sister of Hermann Oelrichs and Charles May Oelrichs. Together, they resided at 22 East 72nd Street and the old family estate, known as Bedford House in Katonah, New York. William and Lucie were the parents of:

Julia Jay (1879–1896), a twin who died aged 17. Eleanor Jay (1882–1953), who married Arthur Iselin (1878–1952), grandson of Adrian Georg Iselin, in 1904. Dorothy Jay (1887–1889), who died in infancy of diphtheria. After a funeral at Trinity Church, Jay was buried in the Jay Family vault at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Churchyard in Bedford, New York. His estate was valued between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000 at his death.

Descendants Through his daughter Eleanor, he was the grandfather of Dorothy Iselin Paschal (1905–1981), the wife of Guy Sherman Paschal; and William Jay Iselin (1908–1951), the father of John Jay Iselin; Arthur Iselin Jr.; and Eleanor Iselin, who married Thomas Frothingham Mason (grand-nephew of Edward Sandford Martin, founder of Life magazine) in 1932.