The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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72 Mr. Goelet was a member of a large number of clubs, and he- apparently derived much .pleasure from his club associations. Amongnhis intimates he was enial, and when in good spirits he was a S very entertaining man. HC WELS 21 member Of the Bar Association, Columbia College Alumni As'- sociation,'the Up-Town Association, the American Fine Arts Society, and of the following Clubs: Union, Knickerbocker, Racquet, Metropolitan, New York Yacht, Republican, Players, Tuxedo, South Side Sportsmen's, Manuscript, Tandem, Philadelphia, Metropolitan of Washington, Royal Clyde Yacht, and Royal Northern .Yacht of Glasgow. ' - An earnest-minded man of business, Mr. Goelet was a director in some of the most important finan- cial institutions in this city, including the Chemical Bank, the Union Trust Company, the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, the Guaranty Trust Company, andthe Bank of New Amsterdam. SEYMOUR VAN NOSTRAND, who was United States Vice Consul in Saxony for many years, died in the Clark Hotel, in Elizabeth,'N.i J., late on Sunday night, july 16, 1899, from a complication of dis- eases. He was- fifty-nine years old and a bachelor. One brother survives him. , J Mr. Van Nostrand was the son of james Van Nostrand, thepresident in the war days of the old Merchants' Exchange Bank, in this city. He was a graduate of Columbia College. He also studied abroad. He was a member of the' St. Nicholas Club and of the St. Nicholas Society of this city, and of the Anglo-American Club in Dresden. He was once vestry clerk. in the American Church in Dresden. Mr. Van Nostrand was well known in literary and club circles. He retired wealthy sev- eral years ago, and had lived in Elizabeth for twenty years. He became a member of the Soci- ety, March 30, 1897. ig- 1 l 211 Cl' l

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71 movements for the promotion of the common wel- fare. Although unostentatious in his methods, it was his aim to aid in every worthy effort to im- prove the condition of the community in which he lived. He was liberal in contributing in a quiet way to projects of a semi-public character both here and in Newport. Mr. Goelet was very fond of music, and he did much to promote its study and to increase the pub- lic facilities' for hearing it. He was one of the original stockholders of the Metropolitan Opera House, and one of the most earnest advocates of the rebuilding of that structure after it had been destroyed by Ere. Mr. Goelet was also one of the founders of the Metropolitan Club in this city, and was one of the financial pillars of that institution. When in New York he wasp in the habit of spend- ing much of his time there. He was likewise a lib- eral patron of the club at Newport and of the Casino at Tuxedo. Any project or suggestion for the beautifying or betterment of those institutions elicited prompt co-operation on his part. In a conservative way Robert Goelet was fond of sports. He knew and appreciated a good trot- ting horse, and derived much pleasure from holding the ribbons over some speedy animals. He was an enthusiastic yachtsman, and took a healthful in- terest in the various out-of-door sports which from time to time engage the attention of fashionable society. His steam yacht Nahma, which was with him abroad, is one of the Hnest vessels of the kind ever built. Persons who knew Robert Goelet best esteemed him most highly. He was not a man to make ac- quaintances promiscuously, yet there was no trace of arrogance or selfish exclusiveness in his disposi- tion. He weighed his friendships carefully, but when once a person gained his confidence, that person found in Mr. Goelet a friend of steadfast loyalty. ' --

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73 DR. CHARLES DE LA MoNTANv1-3, son of Franklin de la Montanye and Blandina Ten Eyck, was born at Marbletown, N. Y., january 14, 1866, and died after a brief illness at Port Ewen, N. Y., July 23, 18 .. when a mere boy it was his ambition to become a physician, and he followed this with a persistence and perseverance which nothing could daunt until, entirely unaided, he reached the goal for which he started. Dr. de la Montanye graduated from the Albany Medical College in the Class of 1890, and was the Orator of the Class at the graduating exercises. Almost immediately afterward he found a favorable opening at Port Ewen, N. Y., where he gained the conhdence and respect of his fellow townsmen and speedily established a good practice. ' He was at one time President of the Ulster County Medical Society, and so highly was he esteemed by his brother practitioners in that So- ciety that they subsequently, elected him to repre- sent them at the New York State Medical Society, to serve for three years. He lived to attend but one meeting of the State Society, that of February 1, 1899, on which occasion he read a paper en- titled Medical Education, its Relations to Classi- cal Literature, which was published in the Albany .Mbdzkal Annals of July, 1899. His death was hastened by his devotion to duty. - His closest friends, who thought they saw signs of weakness caused by overwork, urged him to relinquish, his practice for a time, and go away for a change of air and rest. With indomit- able pluck he remained at his post until a sudden cold developed fatalresults, and his promising career was broughtto an untimely close. A Dr. de la Montanye was descended on themater- nal side from the best and oldest Dutch fam1l1es of Ulster County. Amongthose from whom he could trace descent were the Ten Eyck, Keator,