Robert Sanderson McCormick

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Robert Sanderson McCormick
man in Victorian suit
About 1896
Born July 26, 1849(1849 -07-26)
Rockbridge County, Virginia
Died April 16, 1919 (1919 -04-16) (aged 69)
Hinsdale, Illinois
Occupation Diplomat
Spouse Katherine Medill McCormick
Children Joseph M. McCormick
Robert R. McCormick
Parents William Sanderson McCormick
Mary Ann Grigsby

Robert Sanderson McCormick (1849–1919) was a United States diplomat. Born in rural Virginia, his extended McCormick family became influential in Chicago.

Contents

[edit] Life

Robert Sanderson McCormick was born July 26, 1849 on the family estate known as Walnut Grove in Rockbridge County, Virginia.[1] His father was William Sanderson McCormick (1815–1865) and mother was Mary Ann Grigsby (1828–1878) of the Hickory Hill estate. As an infant, the family moved to Chicago to join the family agricultural machinery business which became International Harvester. He attended prep school at the University of Chicago and then the University of Virginia. On June 8, 1876, he married Katherine van Etta "Kate" Medill (1853–1932). She was daughter of Joseph Medill (1823–1899) who owned and managed the Chicago Tribune newspaper. They had three children:[1]

  1. Joseph Medill McCormick was born May 16, 1877.
  2. Katrina McCormick was born January 17, 1879 and died that year on July 6.
  3. Robert Rutherford McCormick was born July 30, 1880.

He formed a parternship, McCormick & Adams, with his cousin Hugh Leander Adams[2] to invest in a grain elevator at St. Louis, Missouri in 1876, but it failed in the aftermath of the panic of 1873.[3]:39 McCormick was Second Secretary of the American Legation in London from 1889 to 1892, under Minister Robert Todd Lincoln.[4] That led to his appointment as official representative for the Chicago 1893 Exhibition.

His diplomatic career took off when President William McKinley appointed him as minister to Austria-Hungary on March 7, 1901. McCormick presented his credentials on April 29, 1901, and was promoted to be the first American ambassador to Austria-Hungary on May 27, 1902. However, he was recalled on December 29, 1902.[5] Following this, he served as United States ambassador to Imperial Russia to 1905. In 1905 he replaced Horace Porter as amassador to France. He retired in 1907 as he health started to decline. He was replaced by Henry White.

[edit] Awards

In 1907, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia conferred on him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, in recognition of his services to Russia during the war with Japan. Also the Japanese decorated him with the first class of the Order of the Rising Sun, for his attention to Japan's interest during the Russo-Japanese War. He was credited with negotiating with Russia to allow Jews to emigrate using US passports, as suggested by Chicago Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch.[4]

The French government conferred on him the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honor, for furthering the relations between France and the United States. He died on April 16, 1919 from pneumonia at his home in Hinsdale, Illinois.[4] He was buried in Graceland Cemetery.[6]

[edit] Family tree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robert McCormick
(1780–1846)
 
 Mary Ann Hall
(1780–1853)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nancy Fowler McCormick
(1835–1923)
 
 Cyrus McCormick
(1809–1884)
 
 Mary Ann Grigsby
(1828–1878)
 
 William Sanderson McCormick
(1815–1865)
 
 Leander J. McCormick
(1819–1900)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cyrus McCormick Jr.
(1859–1936)
 
 Harold Fowler McCormick
(1872–1941)
 
 
 
 Joseph Medill
(1823–1899)
 
 
 
 
 
 L. Hamilton McCormick
(1859–1934)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robert Sanderson McCormick
(1849–1919)
 
 
 Kate Medill
(1853–1932)
 
 William Grigsby McCormick
(1851–1941)
 
 Ruby McCormick
(1860–1882)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joseph Medill McCormick
(1877–1925)
 
 Ruth Hanna McCormick
(1880–1944)
 
 Robert R. McCormick
(1880–1955)
 
 Chauncey Brooks McCormick
(1884–1954)
 
 William McCormick Blair
(1884–1982)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brooks McCormick
(1917–2006)
 
 William McCormick Blair, Jr.
(born 1916)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Leander James McCormick (1896). Family record and biography. p. 308. http://books.google.com/books?id=QC83AAAAMAAJ. 
  2. ^ a son of Hugh Adams, who married Amanda McCormick. She was the youngest sister of William Sanderson McCormick, father of Robert Sanderson McCormick.
  3. ^ Richard Norton Smith (2003). The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880–1955. Northwestern University Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 9780810120396. http://books.google.com/books?id=0tIW6XTGsOAC. 
  4. ^ a b c "R.S. M'Cormick, Ex-Diplomat, Dies; Father of Illinois Senator and of Chicago Tribune Editor a Pneumonia Victim". The New York Times: p. 11. April 17, 1919. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0DE7DA1238EE32A25754C1A9629C946896D6CF. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Former U.S. Ambassadors to Austria". U.S. Embassy in Vienna. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/austria/19452/pdfs/formerambassadors.pdf. Retrieved December 29, 2010. 
  6. ^ Robert Sanderson McCormick at Find a Grave

[edit] External links

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Addison C. Harris		 U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary
Minister 1901–1902
Ambassador 1902		 Succeeded by
Bellamy Storer
Preceded by
Charlemagne Tower, Jr.		 U.S. Ambassador to Russia
1903–1905		 Succeeded by
George v. L. Meyer
Envoys

Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, Silas Deane (substituted by John Adams in 1778) 1776–1779
Ministers Plenipotentiary

Franklin 1778–85 · Jefferson 1785–89 · Short 1790–92 · Morris 1792–94 · Monroe 1794–96 · Pinckney 1796–97 · Livingston 1801–04 · Armstrong 1804–10 · Russell (chargé d'affaires) 1811 Barlow 1811–12 · Crawford 1813–15
Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary

Gallatin 1816–23 · Brown 1824–29 · Rives 1829–32 · Harris (chargé d'affaires) 1833 · Livingston 1833–35 · Barton (chargé d'affaires) 1835 · Cass 1836–42 · King 1844–46 · Rush 1847–49 · Rives 1849–53 · Mason 1853–59 · Faulkner 1860–61 · Dayton 1861–64 · Bigelow 1865–66 · Dix 1866–69 · Washburne 1869–77 · Noyes 1877–81 · Morton 1881–85 · McLane 1885–89 · Reid 1889–92 · Coolidge 1892–93
Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary

Eustis 1893–97 · Porter 1897–05 · McCormick 1905–07 · White 1907–09 · Bacon 1909–12 · Herrick 1912–14 · Sharp 1914–1919 · Wallace 1919–21 · Herrick 1921–29 · Edge 1929–33 · Straus 1933–36 · Bullitt 1936–40 · Leahy 1941–42 · Tuck (chargé d'affaires) 1942 · Caffery 1944–49 · Bruce 1949–52 · Dunn 1952–53 · Dillon 1953–57 · Houghton 1957–61 · Gavin 1961–62 · Bohlen 1962–68 · Shriver 1968–70 · Watson 1970–72 · Irwin 1973–74 · Rush 1974–77 · Hartman 1977–81 · Galbraith 1981–85 · Rodgers 1985–89 · Curley 1989–93 · Harriman 1993–97 · Rohatyn 1997–2000 · Leach 2001–05 · Stapleton 2005–09 · Rivkin 2009–
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