Julius Catlin

Catlin was born on December 14, 1798, and was from Hartford in Hartford County, Connecticut. His sister, Flora Belle Catlin (1794–1878), an artist and a teacher of the arts at the Hartford Female Seminary, lived with him after the death of their father.[2]

Catlin was a successful dry goods merchant in Hartford,[3] and "accumulated a large property."[4]

Catlin was interested in public affairs and after winning election, served as the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1861,[5] under the famous "war governor" William Alfred Buckingham. He also presided over the Connecticut State Senate.

Catlin was married to Mary Fisher (1803–1888),[6] a native of Wrentham, Massachusetts, a descendant of John Mason[7] "whose ancestors crossed the ocean with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower."[3] Together, they lived in Hartford and had a home at Watch Hill in Rhode Island and were the parents of:[4]

• Mary Jane Catlin (1830–1836), who died in childhood.
• Hannah Maria Catlin (1831–1880), who married Benjamin Kinsman Phelps, the law partner of future U.S. President Chester A. Arthur who served as New York County District Attorney.[8]
• Julius Catlin Jr. (1833–1893),[9] who was a dry goods merchant who married Frances Helen Hunt (b. 1839) in 1862.[10]
• Charles Catlin (1837–1918), a woolen merchant with Mullen & Co. who married Laura Almina Wood of Rouses Point, granddaughter of Eliza Yale of the Yale family.[3][11]
• Mary Catlin (1839–1839), who died in infancy.

Catlin died at his home in Hartford (the former home of Lydia Huntley Sigourney) on April 23, 1888.[4] He was buried at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. At the time of his death, the principal value of his estate was $726,000.[12]

Descendants

Chateau d'Annel, Julia Hunt Catlin's property used during World War I

Through his son Julius, he was the paternal grandfather of three girls, Julia Hunt Catlin (1864–1947), Edith Catlin and May Catlin.[12]

Julia became multimillionaire, received the Croix de Guerre and Legion d'honneur, and was married three times.

Firstly, she married to Trenor Luther Park, son of Trenor W. Park, a founder of the Republican Party of California and business rival of robber baron Jay Gould. He was the proprietor of banks and railroads and was an associate of Horace Henry Baxter and Cornelius Vanderbilt. His grandfather was Congressman and Governor of Vermont Hiland Hall.

She married secondly to C. Mitchell Depew, a nephew of Senator Chauncey Depew, who became Secretary of State of New York, President of the New York Central Railroad for Cornelius Vanderbilt, and a founding member of the Yale Club. He was also a member of The Four Hundred of the Gilded Age, President of the Linonian Society, and a member of the Skulls and Bones.

Thirdly, she married to Emile Adolphe Taufflieb, a French Senator and General during World War I.[13]

• Julius Catlin at Find a Grave