Charles Roome

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Charles Roome
16th President of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York
In office
1867–1867
Preceded byAugustus Schell
Succeeded byJames William Beekman
Personal details
Born(1812-08-04)August 4, 1812
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 28, 1890(1890-06-28) (aged 77)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouses
Anna Catherine Wheeler
​
​
(m. 1836; died 1855)​
Mary Marvin Wells
​
(m. 1857)​
Children5
Parent(s)Jenima Lewis Roome
Nicholas Roome

Charles Roome (August 4, 1812 – June 28, 1890)[1] was an American soldier, engineer, and businessman.

Early life[edit]

Roome was born on August 4, 1812, in New York City. He was the eleventh of twenty children born to Jemima (née Lewis) Roome (1797–1854) and Nicholas Roome (1775–1824),[2] a wealthy merchant who served as Superintendent of the "Old State Prison" in New York City.[3]

His paternal grandparents were Rachel (née De Groot) Roome and Peter Roome, a descendant of William Jansen Roome,[2] a New Amsterdam settler.[4] His maternal grandparents were Rachel (née Van Benschoten) Lewis and Thomas Lewis, who served during the Revolutionary War in the 3rd Regiment of the Line under Col. Clinton in the invasion of Canada and as quartermaster under Col. Henry Ludington.[4]

Career[edit]

After a Normal School education, Roome began in the mercantile business. In 1838, he began working in the engineering staff at the Manhattan Gas Light Company, becoming Engineer-in-Chief in 1842 and president in January 1854, succeeding Henry Young.[5]

At the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, Roome was a Captain of Company D in the 7th New York State Militia. He then helped organize the 37th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army and was appointed Colonel in command in 1861.[6] He led the 37th New York for the entire war and for "faithful and meritorious service", he was brevetted Brigadier General of the U.S. Volunteers by President Andrew Johnson on March 13, 1865.[5]

After the war, Roome again served as the president of the Manhattan Gas Light Company until 1884, when he became president of the new organization, the Consolidated Gas Company of New York, of which he was also a director. He served as president until his retirement in 1886.[5]

In 1867, he became the 16th President of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York.[5] In 1879, he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York. Roome, a Knights Templar, was "exalted a Royal Arch Mason in Jerusalem Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons in May of 1866 and served as High Priest in 1882 and 1883."[7] He also served as Royal Arch Grand Master from 1886 to 1889.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Roome was twice married. In 1836, he married his first wife, Anna Catherine Wheeler,[9] the daughter of Hezekiah Wheeler.[10] Together, they were the parents of three children, including:[4]

  • Emilie Frances Roome (1838–1866), who married Theodore Weld Parmele (1833–1893), grandson of Judge Jonas Platt, in 1870.[11] After her death, Theodore remarried to Mary Platt, his cousin and the daughter of Zephaniah Platt.[12]
  • Anna Catherine Roome, who married Louis V. Sutherland in 1867.[4]
  • Frederick Roome, who died in infancy.[4]

After the death of his first wife in 1855, he remarried to Mary Marvin Wells (1823–1904),[13] the daughter of Ann Maria Olcott and Richard Isaac Wells, on June 2, 1857.[14][15] Mary and Charles were the parents of two more children, including:[2]

  • Claudius Monell Roome (1860–1920),[16] a Columbia University graduate and Reverend. He married Mary Flocton Crocker, daughter of Eugene Crocker.[17][18]
  • William Harris Roome (b. 1861), a Columbia University graduate and lawyer.[19] He married Louise George.[4][20]

Roome died of bronchitis and pneumonia at his home, 29 West 52nd Street in New York on June 28, 1890. After a funeral service at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[1]

Descendants[edit]

Through his daughter Emily, he was the grandfather of Charles Roome Parmele and Helen Livingston Parmele, who married siblings, Alice Butler and J. Holmes Butler.[21][22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Gen. Charles Roome" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 June 1890. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society: Advanced Sheets, First Series. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1902. p. 51. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  3. ^ Report of Proceedings of the Annual Meeting. The American Gas Light Association. 1892. p. 665. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Van Benschoten, William Henry (1907). Concerning the Van Bunschoten or Van Benschoten family in America: a genealogy and brief history. A. V. Haight Co. p. 208. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Youngs, Florence Evelyn Pratt; Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1914). Portraits of the Presidents of The Society, 1835-1914. New York, NY: Order of the Society. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Roome, Charles | House Divided". hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu. Dickinson College. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  7. ^ Marshall, Jr., Sir Knight George L. (May 2015). "Charles Roome, 14th Grand Master of the Grand Encampment" (PDF). knightstemplar.org. Knights Templar. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  8. ^ Lawrence, M.D. Ph.D., George Alfred (1917). Most Eminent Sir Charles Roome, Grand Master of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar of United States of America. New York. Retrieved 15 April 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Greeley, Horace; Benjamin, Park (1836). "Married". The New Yorker: A Weekly Journal of Literature, Politics and General Intelligence. H. Greeley & Company: 15. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Anna Catherine". New York Daily Herald. June 2, 1855. p. 5. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Col. Theodore Weld Parmele" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 May 1893. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  12. ^ Platt, George Lewis (1891). The Platt Lineage: A Genealogical Research and Record. T. Whittaker. p. 124. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  13. ^ The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1905. p. 133. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  14. ^ Goodwin, Nathaniel (1845). Descendants of Thomas Olcott: One of the First Settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. Press of Case, Tiffany & Burnham. p. 35. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  15. ^ Welles, Albert (1876). History of the Welles Family in England and Normandy: With the Derivation from Their Progenitors of Some of the Descendants in the United States. A. Welles. p. 253. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Died" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 December 1920. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  17. ^ Rathbone, Albert (1937). Josiah Olcott and Deborah Worth, His Wife: A Record of Their Descendants and Notes Regarding Their Ancestors. Press of B.H. Tyrrel. pp. 49-51. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  18. ^ "LEONIE KELLEY WED TO CHARLES ROOME; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Kelley Is Married at St. Thomas's Church. MARGARET HOOKER A BRIDE Larchmont Manor Girl Becomes Mrs. Laurence M. Williams-- Mary T. Kingslandsmith Wed" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 March 1928. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  19. ^ Johnson, Henry Clark (March 1888). The Tenth General Catalogue of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: The Comenius Press. p. 512. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  20. ^ "REFORM POLITICIANS CONFER.; Charles Steckler and Mr. Harvier Meet W. Harris Roome of Good Government Clubs" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 August 1894. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  21. ^ Butler, Henry Langdon (1919). Tales of Our Kinsfolk, Past and Present: The Story of Our Butler Ancestors ... from 1602 to 1919. p. 370. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  22. ^ Charles Roome Parmele. Western Druggist. July 1895. p. 311. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

External links[edit]

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