Herbert L. Satterlee
American lawyer, writer and businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbert Livingston Satterlee (October 31, 1863 – July 14, 1947) was an American lawyer, writer, and businessman who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1908 to 1909.[1]
Herbert Livingston Satterlee | |
|---|---|
Satterlee circa 1915 | |
| 10th Assistant Secretary of the Navy | |
| In office December 3, 1908 – March 5, 1909 | |
| Appointed by | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Truman Handy Newberry |
| Succeeded by | Beekman Winthrop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 31, 1863 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1947 (aged 83) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Louisa Pierpont Morgan
(m. 1900; died 1946) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | George Bowen Satterlee Sarah Wilcox |
| Education | Columbia University Columbia Law School |
Early life
Herbert Livingston Satterlee was born in New York City in 1863.[2] He was the son of George Bowen Satterlee (1833–1903) and Sarah Brady Wilcox (b. 1836).[3] His siblings included Marion Satterlee and Richard T. Satterlee.[3]
Through his paternal grandmother, Mary LeRoy (née Livingston) Satterlee (1811–1886), he is a member of the Livingston family and a direct descendant of Robert Livingston, the 1st Lord of Livingston Manor.[4] His second cousin was Henry Yates Satterlee (1843–1908), the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C.[3]
Satterlee graduated with a B.S. from Columbia College in 1883, received his M.A. in 1884, and completed his studies at Columbia Law School with a Ph.D. and LL.B. law degree in 1885.[1][5][6][7]
Career
Satterlee was admitted to the bar in New York in 1885, entering the office of Evarts, Choate and Beeman.[5] During the Spanish–American War, he volunteered for duty in the Navy, serving as a lieutenant in the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.
Before and after the war, Satterlee pursued a successful law practice, focused primarily on corporate law and commercial law. In 1894, he co-founded Ward, Hayden & Satterlee.[8] Later, he partnered with George Folger Canfield and Harlan Fiske Stone,[9] around the 1907 death of their partner, William Nivison Wilmer (the firm had been known as Wilmer, Canfield and Stone).[10] Tracy Voorhees joined the firm in 1917; he went on to become U.S. Army Under Secretary after the Second World War.[11] Satterlee, Canfield & Stone was a predecessor of the present-day firm Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP.[2]
In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Satterlee as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Satterlee held this office from December 3, 1908, to March 5, 1909.[12] He served as President of The Union League Club from 1938 - 1939.[1]
Satterlee authored several books, including a 1939 biography of his father-in-law entitled J. Pierpont Morgan: An Intimate Portrait.[1][13]
Personal life
On November 15, 1900,[14] he married Louisa Pierpont Morgan (1866–1946), the oldest daughter of J. Pierpont Morgan. In 1910, Satterlee and his wife purchased the Sotterley Plantation in Hollywood, Maryland.[15] Together, they were the parents of two daughters:
- Mabel Morgan Satterlee (1901–1993), who married Francis Abbott Ingalls II (b. 1895), brother of Laura Ingalls, in 1925.[16]
- Eleanor Morgan Satterlee (1905–1951), who married Milo Sargent Gibbs, the son of Milo Delavan Gibbs, in 1929.[17] They divorced shortly after.[18]
Louisa died at their summer home, Dover House, in the Round Hill district of Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 7, 1946.[19] In failing health, Satterlee died by suicide with a pistol shot through his right temple at his apartment at 1 Beekman Place in Manhattan, New York City on July 14, 1947, at the age of 83.[1]