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87-511: The term "Knickerbocker" partly due to writer Washington Irving 's use of the pen name Diedrich Knickerbocker , was a byword for a New York patrician , comparable to a " Boston Brahmin ". The Knickerbocker Club was founded in 1871 by members of the Union Club of the City of New York who were concerned that the club's admission standards had fallen. By the 1950s, urban social club membership

174-504: A Traveller —including the short story " The Devil and Tom Walker "—under his Geoffrey Crayon persona. "I think there are in it some of the best things I have ever written", Irving told his sister. But while the book sold respectably, Traveller was dismissed by critics, who panned both Traveller and its author. "The public have been led to expect better things", wrote the United States Literary Gazette , while

261-464: A certain number of months, in which a plenary pardon is assured in advance for all kinds of crimes, among which, several of the most gross and sensual are specifically mentioned, and the weaknesses of the flesh to which they were prone. Clancy wrote to Irving, who "promptly aided the investigation into the truth, and promised to correct in future editions the misrepresentation complained of". Clancy traveled to his new posting by way of England, and bearing

348-522: A copy to Irving. Whether this was done is not clear as the disputed text remains in the 1849 edition. Irving also championed America's maturing literature, advocating stronger copyright laws to protect writers from the kind of piracy that had initially plagued The Sketch Book . Writing in the January 1840 issue of Knickerbocker , he openly endorsed copyright legislation pending in Congress. "We have

435-562: A fallen hero in his eyes, Irving began to view Spanish affairs more realistically. However, the politics and warfare were exhausting, and Irving was both homesick and suffering from a crippling skin condition. I am wearied and at times heartsick of the wretched politics of this country…. The last ten or twelve years of my life, passed among sordid speculators in the United States, and political adventurers in Spain, has shewn me so much of

522-524: A letter of introduction from Irving, stopped at Newstead Abbey and was able to view the document to which Irving had alluded. Upon inspection, Clancy discovered that it was, in fact, not an indulgence issued to the friars from any ecclesiastical authority, but a pardon given by the king to some parties suspected of having broken "forest laws". Clancy requested the local pastor to forward his findings to Catholic periodicals in England, and upon publication, send

609-532: A lifelong personal and professional friendship. Irving composed the short story "Rip Van Winkle" overnight while staying with his sister Sarah and her husband, Henry van Wart , in Birmingham, England , a place that inspired other works as well. In October 1818, Irving's brother William secured for Irving a post as chief clerk to the United States Navy and urged him to return home. Irving turned

696-655: A number of manuscripts dealing with the Spanish conquest of the Americas had recently been made public. Irving left for Madrid and enthusiastically began scouring the Spanish archives for colorful material. With full access to the American consul's massive library of Spanish history, Irving began working on several books at once. The first offspring of this hard work, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus ,

783-526: A regular contributor to The Knickerbocker magazine in 1839, writing new essays and short stories under the Knickerbocker and Crayon pseudonyms. He was regularly approached by aspiring young authors for advice or endorsement, including Edgar Allan Poe, who sought Irving's comments on " William Wilson " and " The Fall of the House of Usher ". In 1837, a lady of Charleston, South Carolina brought to

870-461: A reward for his safe return. Irving then published A History of New York on December 6, 1809, under the Knickerbocker pseudonym, with immediate critical and popular success. "It took with the public", Irving remarked, "and gave me celebrity, as an original work was something remarkable and uncommon in America". The name Diedrich Knickerbocker became a nickname for Manhattan residents in general and

957-481: A series of more than 50 loosely connected short stories and essays. While some reviewers thought Bracebridge to be a lesser imitation of The Sketch Book , the book was well received by readers and critics. "We have received so much pleasure from this book", wrote critic Francis Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review , "that we think ourselves bound in gratitude... to make a public acknowledgement of it". Irving

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1044-428: A severe trial to absent myself for a time from my dear little Sunnyside, but I shall return to it better enabled to carry it on comfortably". He hoped that his position as Minister would allow him plenty of time to write, but Spain was in a state of political upheaval during most of his tenure, with a number of warring factions vying for control of the 12-year-old Queen Isabella II . Irving maintained good relations with

1131-518: A single volume by John Miller in London. Irving appealed to Walter Scott for help procuring a more reputable publisher for the remainder of the book. Scott referred Irving to his own publisher, London powerhouse John Murray , who agreed to take on The Sketch Book . From then on, Irving would publish concurrently in the United States and Britain to protect his copyright, with Murray as his English publisher of choice. Irving's reputation soared, and for

1218-499: A small watercolor painting which continues to hang in his home. The Irvings lived at 131 William Street at the time of Washington's birth, but they later moved across the street to 128 William Street. Several of Irving's brothers became active New York merchants; they encouraged his literary aspirations, often supporting him financially as he pursued his writing career. Irving was an uninterested student who preferred adventure stories and drama, and he regularly sneaked out of class in

1305-485: A surveying mission, along with companions Charles La Trobe and Count Albert-Alexandre de Pourtales, and they traveled deep into Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma). At the completion of his western tour, Irving traveled through Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, where he became acquainted with politician and novelist John Pendleton Kennedy . Irving was frustrated by bad investments, so he turned to writing to generate additional income, beginning with A Tour on

1392-466: A taste to suit my dinner". While visiting Rome in 1805, Irving struck up a friendship with painter Washington Allston and was almost persuaded into a career as a painter. "My lot in life, however, was differently cast". Irving returned from Europe to study law with his legal mentor Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman in New York City. By his own admission, he was not a good student and barely passed

1479-609: A wealthy widow. It was designed by William Adams Delano and Chester Holmes Aldrich , and it has been designated a city landmark. Members of the Knickerbocker Club are almost-exclusively descendants of British and Dutch aristocratic families that governed the early 1600s American Colonies or that left the Old Continent for political reasons (e.g. partisans of the Royalist coalition against Cromwell , such as

1566-740: A young literature", he wrote, "springing up and daily unfolding itself with wonderful energy and luxuriance, which … deserves all its fostering care". The legislation, however, did not pass at that time. In 1841, Irving was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. He also began a friendly correspondence with Charles Dickens and hosted Dickens and his wife at Sunnyside during Dickens's American tour in 1842. President John Tyler appointed Irving as Minister to Spain in February 1842, after an endorsement from Secretary of State Daniel Webster . Irving wrote, "It will be

1653-490: Is so much in the popular heart". By 1859, author Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. noted that Sunnyside had become "next to Mount Vernon, the best known and most cherished of all the dwellings in our land". Irving died of a heart attack in his bedroom at Sunnyside on November 28, 1859, age 76—only eight months after completing the final volume of his Washington biography. Legend has it that his last words were: "Well, I must arrange my pillows for another night. When will this end?" He

1740-575: The "distressed Cavaliers" of the aristocratic Virginia settlers ), or current members of the international aristocracy. Towards the middle of the 20th century, however, the club opened its door to a few descendants of the Gilded Age 's prominent families, such as members of the Rockefeller family. E. Digby Baltzell explains in his 1971 book Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class : The circulation of elites in America and

1827-655: The Alhambra , Christopher Columbus , and the Moors . Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s. Irving was born and raised in Manhattan to a merchant family. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle , written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle . He temporarily moved to England for the family business in 1815, where he achieved fame with

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1914-582: The Astor Library , a forerunner to the New York Public Library . Irving continued to socialize and keep up with his correspondence well into his seventies, and his fame and popularity continued to soar. "I don't believe that any man, in any country, has ever had a more affectionate admiration for him than that given to you in America", wrote Senator William C. Preston in a letter to Irving. "I believe that we have had but one man who

2001-671: The New-York Mirror pronounced Irving "overrated". Hurt and depressed by the book's reception, Irving retreated to Paris where he spent the next year worrying about finances and scribbling down ideas for projects that never materialized. While in Paris, Irving received a letter from Alexander Hill Everett on January 30, 1826. Everett, recently the American Minister to Spain, urged Irving to join him in Madrid, noting that

2088-581: The Union League Club (the stronghold of Republican respectability); seven of the group belonged to the New York Yacht Club . Morgan belonged to nineteen clubs in all; Vanderbilt, to fifteen; Harriman, to fourteen.” Allen then goes on to show how the descendants of these financial giants were assimilated into the upper class: “By way of footnote, it may be added that although in that year [1905] only two of our ten financiers belonged to

2175-633: The politics of the United States for generations. In many cases, their prominence predated the American Revolution (1765–1783), when their ancestors had accumulated fortunes as members of the elite planter class , or as merchants , slave traders, ship-owners , or fur traders . In many cases, especially in Virginia , Maryland , and the Carolinas , the source of these families' wealth were vast tracts of land granted to their ancestors by

2262-454: The upper class whose wealth separates them from lower social classes. According to anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner , the upper class in the United States during the 1930s was divided into the upper-upper and the lower-upper classes. The lower-upper were those who did not come from traditionally wealthy families. They earned their money from investments and business, rather than inheritance . Examples include John D. Rockefeller , whose father

2349-566: The 18th century and was ennobled by the Habsburg emperor and Queen Victoria . Throughout the 19th century, they controlled the largest fortune in the world, in today's terms many hundreds of billions. The family has, at least to some extent, maintained its wealth for over two centuries. On the other hand, in Britain , the term generally exclusively refers to the nobility - that is, the peerage and landed gentry - who traditionally live off

2436-639: The 20th century Mad magazine. Salmagundi was a moderate success, spreading Irving's name and reputation beyond New York. He gave New York City the nickname "Gotham" in its 17th issue dated November 11, 1807, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "Goat's Town". Irving completed A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809) while mourning

2523-688: The Carolinas and Georgia. They destroyed crops, killed or confiscated livestock, burned barns and gristmills, and in some cases torched plantation houses and even entire cities such as Atlanta . They were using scorched earth tactics, designed to starve the Confederate States of America into submission. After the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865) and the emancipation of

2610-514: The Conquest of Granada was published a year later, followed by Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus in 1831. Irving's writings on Columbus are a mixture of history and fiction, a genre now called romantic history. Irving based them on extensive research in the Spanish archives, but also added imaginative elements aimed at sharpening the story. The first of these works is

2697-752: The Crown or acquired by headright during the colonial period . These planter class families were often related to each other through intermarriage for more than 300 years, and are sometimes known as American gentry . They produced several Founding Fathers of the United States and a number of early presidents of the United States . After the American Civil War (1861–1865), many in the upper-upper class saw their wealth greatly reduced. Their slaves became freedmen . Union forces under Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan had also cut wide swaths of destruction through portions of Virginia,

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2784-547: The History of Letters". Old money Old money is "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families (i.e. gentry , patriciate )" or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth". It is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, often referring to perceived members of the de facto aristocracy in societies that historically lack an officially established aristocratic class (such as

2871-414: The Knickerbocker Club, in 1933 the grandsons of six of them did. The following progress is characteristic: John D. Rockefeller, Union League Club; John D. Rockefeller Jr., University Club ; John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Knickerbocker Club. Thus is the American aristocracy recruited.” Christopher Doob wrote in his book Social Inequality and Social Stratification in U.S. Society : Personal wealth has never been

2958-562: The Knickerbocker Club, the citadel of Patrician families (indeed, both already belonged to old prominent families at the time), Stillman and Harriman joined these two in the membership of the almost equally fashionable Union Club ; Baker joined these four in the membership of the Metropolitan Club of New York (magnificent, but easier of access to new wealth); John D. Rockefeller , William Rockefeller Jr. , and Rogers , along with Morgan and Baker were listed as members of

3045-576: The New York Morning Chronicle in 1802 when he was 19, submitting commentaries on the city's social and theater scene under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle . The name evoked his Federalist leanings and was the first of many pseudonyms he employed throughout his career. The letters brought Irving some early fame and moderate notoriety. Aaron Burr was a co-publisher of the Chronicle , and was impressed enough to send clippings of

3132-562: The Oldstyle pieces to his daughter Theodosia . Charles Brockden Brown made a trip to New York to try to recruit Oldstyle for a literary magazine he was editing in Philadelphia. Concerned for his health, Irving's brothers financed an extended tour of Europe from 1804 to 1806. He bypassed most of the sites and locations considered essential for the social development of a young man, to the dismay of his brother William who wrote that he

3219-510: The Oregon border that newly elected president James K. Polk had vowed to resolve. Irving returned from Spain in September 1846, took up residence at Sunnyside, and began work on an "Author's Revised Edition" of his works for publisher George Palmer Putnam . For its publication, Irving had made a deal which guaranteed him 12 percent of the retail price of all copies sold, an agreement that

3306-527: The Prairies which related his recent travels on the frontier. The book was another popular success and also the first book written and published by Irving in the United States since A History of New York in 1809. In 1834, he was approached by fur magnate John Jacob Astor , who convinced him to write a history of his fur trading colony in Astoria, Oregon . Irving made quick work of Astor's project, shipping

3393-628: The United States Senate had refused to confirm him as the new Minister. Consoling Van Buren, Irving predicted that the Senate's partisan move would backfire. "I should not be surprised", Irving said, "if this vote of the Senate goes far toward elevating him to the presidential chair". Irving arrived in New York on May 21, 1832, after 17 years abroad. That September, he accompanied Commissioner on Indian Affairs Henry Leavitt Ellsworth on

3480-586: The United States), in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation. Wealth —assets held by an individual or by a household—provides an important dimension of social stratification because it can pass from generation to generation, ensuring that a family's offspring will remain financially stable. Families with "old money" use accumulated assets or savings to bridge interruptions in income, thus guarding against downward social mobility . "Old money" applies to those of

3567-457: The United States, particularly A Tour on the Prairies , though British critics accused him of "book-making". In 1835, Irving purchased a "neglected cottage" and its surrounding riverfront property in Tarrytown, New York, which he named Sunnyside in 1841. It required constant repair and renovation over the next 20 years, with costs continually escalating, so he reluctantly agreed to become

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3654-541: The University Club, a step up from his father; and finally his son John D. Rockefeller, III, reached the pinnacle with his acceptance into the Knickerbocker Club (Baltzell 1989, 340). The Knickerbocker Club has mutual arrangements with the following clubs: 40°45′57.23″N 73°58′17.28″W  /  40.7658972°N 73.9714667°W  / 40.7658972; -73.9714667 Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859)

3741-693: The area had been known as Slapershaven or "Sleeper's Haven" by the Dutch. Irving made several other trips up the Hudson as a teenager, including an extended visit to Johnstown, New York , where he passed through the Catskill Mountains region, the setting for " Rip Van Winkle ". "Of all the scenery of the Hudson", Irving wrote, "the Kaatskill Mountains had the most witching effect on my boyish imagination". Irving began writing letters to

3828-697: The assimilation of new men of power and influence into the upper class takes place primarily through the medium of urban clubdom. Aristocracy of birth is replaced by an aristocracy of ballot. Frederick Lewis Allen showed how this process operated in the case of the nine Lords of Creation who were listed in the New York Social Register as of 1905: “The nine men who were listed [in the Social Register] were recorded as belonging to 9.4 clubs apiece,” wrote Allen. “Though only two of them, J. P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt III , belonged to

3915-507: The atmosphere. Irving is largely credited as the first American Man of Letters and the first to earn his living solely by his pen. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow acknowledged Irving's role in promoting American literature in December 1859: "We feel a just pride in his renown as an author, not forgetting that, to his other claims upon our gratitude, he adds also that of having been the first to win for our country an honourable name and position in

4002-472: The attention of William Clancy , newly appointed bishop to Demerara , a passage in The Crayon Miscellany , and questioned whether it accurately reflected Catholic teaching or practice. The passage under "Newstead Abbey" read: One of the parchment scrolls thus discovered, throws rather an awkward light upon the kind of life led by the friars of Newstead. It is an indulgence granted to them for

4089-407: The bar examination in 1806. He began socializing with a group of literate young men whom he dubbed "The Lads of Kilkenny", and he created the literary magazine Salmagundi in January 1807 with his brother William and his friend James Kirke Paulding, writing under various pseudonyms, such as William Wizard and Launcelot Langstaff. Irving lampooned New York culture and politics in a manner similar to

4176-513: The basis for his 1837 book The Adventures of Captain Bonneville . These three works made up Irving's "western" series of books and were written partly as a response to criticism that his time in England and Spain had made him more European than American. Critics such as James Fenimore Cooper and Philip Freneau felt that he had turned his back on his American heritage in favor of English aristocracy. Irving's western books were well received in

4263-550: The biography were published between 1855 and 1859. Irving traveled regularly to Mount Vernon and Washington, D.C., for his research, and struck up friendships with Presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce . He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1855. He was hired as an executor of John Jacob Astor's estate in 1848 and appointed by Astor's will as first chairman of

4350-493: The city's merchant class. Washington was born on April 3, 1783, the same week that New York City residents learned of the British ceasefire which ended the American Revolution . Irving's mother named him after George Washington. Irving met his namesake at age 6 when George Washington came to New York just before his inauguration as President in 1789. The President blessed young Irving, an encounter that Irving had commemorated in

4437-409: The dark side of human nature, that I begin to have painful doubts of my fellow man; and look back with regret to the confiding period of my literary career, when, poor as a rat, but rich in dreams, I beheld the world through the medium of my imagination and was apt to believe men as good as I wished them to be. With the political situation relatively settled in Spain, Irving continued to closely monitor

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4524-504: The death of his 17-year-old fiancée Matilda Hoffman. It was his first major book and a satire on self-important local history and contemporary politics. Before its publication, Irving started a hoax by placing a series of missing person advertisements in the New York Evening Post seeking information on Diedrich Knickerbocker , a crusty Dutch historian who had allegedly gone missing from his hotel in New York City. As part of

4611-671: The death of his brother William—Irving worked slowly, finally delivering a completed manuscript to Murray in March 1822. The book, Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, A Medley (the location was based loosely on Aston Hall , occupied by members of the Bracebridge family, near his sister's home in Birmingham) was published in June 1822. The format of Bracebridge was similar to that of The Sketch Book , with Irving, as Crayon, narrating

4698-523: The development of the new government and the fate of Isabella. His official duties as Spanish Minister also involved negotiating American trade interests with Cuba and following the Spanish parliament's debates over the slave trade. He was also pressed into service by Louis McLane, the American Minister to the Court of St. James's in London, to assist in negotiating the Anglo-American disagreement over

4785-491: The early 20th century, the upper-upper class were seen as more prestigious than the nouveau riche even if the nouveau riche had more wealth. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the nouveau rich flaunted their wealth by building Gilded Age mansions that emulated the palaces of European royalty , while old money was more conservative. American "Old money" families tend to adhere to various Mainline Protestant denominations; Episcopalians and Presbyterians are

4872-654: The evenings to attend the theater by the time he was 14. An outbreak of yellow fever in Manhattan in 1798 prompted his family to send him upriver, where he stayed with his friend James Kirke Paulding in Tarrytown, New York . It was in Tarrytown where he became familiar with the bucolic beauty of the region with its Dutch customs and local ghost stories. Though the town of Sleepy Hollow did not exist in Irving's time (North Tarrytown changed its name to Sleepy Hollow in 1996),

4959-700: The fawning biographical account Astoria in February 1836. In 1835, Irving, Astor, and a few others founded the Saint Nicholas Society in the City of New York . During an extended stay at Astor's home, Irving met explorer Benjamin Bonneville and was intrigued with his maps and stories of the territories beyond the Rocky Mountains . The two men met in Washington, D.C., several months later, and Bonneville sold his maps and rough notes to Irving for $ 1,000. Irving used these materials as

5046-554: The inherited wealth at their disposal or that which they can access in the future, choose to pursue their own career or set up their own businesses. Paris Hilton and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou did this. On the other hand, passive "old money" are the idle rich or those who are not wealth producers. "Old money" contrasts with the nouveau riche and parvenus . These fall under the category "new money" (those not from traditionally wealthy families). The Rothschild family , as an example, established finance houses across Europe from

5133-619: The land inherited paternally. The British concept is analogous to good lineage and it is not uncommon to find someone with "old money" who is actually poor or insolvent . By 2001, however, those belonging to this category—the aristocratic landowners—are still part of the wealthiest list in the United Kingdom. For instance, the Duke of Westminster , by way of his Grosvenor estate , owns large swaths of properties in London that include 200 acres of Belgravia and 100 acres of Mayfair . There

5220-515: The legation's chargé d'affaires until the arrival of Martin Van Buren , President Andrew Jackson 's nominee for British Minister. With Van Buren in place, Irving resigned his post to concentrate on writing, eventually completing Tales of the Alhambra , which would be published concurrently in the United States and England in 1832. Irving was still in London when Van Buren received word that

5307-467: The most prevalent among them. Although many "old money" individuals do not rank as high on the list of Forbes 400 richest Americans as their ancestors did, their wealth continues to grow. Many families increased their holdings by investment strategies such as the pooling of resources. For example, the Rockefeller family 's estimated net worth of $ 1 billion in the 1930s grew to $ 8.5 billion by 2000—that is, not adjusted for inflation. In 60 years, four of

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5394-450: The next two years, he led an active social life in Paris and Great Britain, where he was often feted as an anomaly of literature: an upstart American who dared to write English well. With both Irving and publisher John Murray eager to follow up on the success of The Sketch Book , Irving spent much of 1821 traveling in Europe in search of new material, reading widely in Dutch and German folk tales. Hampered by writer's block—and depressed by

5481-401: The next year to negotiate a trade agreement between the United States and the British West Indies , finally reaching a deal in August 1830. That same year, Irving was awarded a medal by the Royal Society of Literature, followed by an honorary doctorate of civil law from Oxford in 1831. Following McLane's recall to the United States in 1831 to serve as Secretary of Treasury, Irving stayed on as

5568-506: The offer down, opting to stay in England to pursue a writing career. In the spring of 1819, Irving sent to his brother Ebenezer in New York a set of short prose pieces that he asked be published as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The first installment, containing "Rip Van Winkle", was an enormous success, and the rest of the work was equally successful; it was issued in 1819–1820 in seven installments in New York and in two volumes in London ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" appeared in

5655-511: The publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. which was serialized from 1819 to 1820. He continued to publish regularly throughout his life, and he completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death at age 76 in Tarrytown, New York . Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne , Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Herman Melville , and Edgar Allan Poe . He

5742-444: The richest families in the United States increased their combined $ 2–4 billion in 1937 to $ 38 billion without holding large shares in emerging industries. When adjusted for inflation, the actual dollar wealth of many of these families has shrunk since the '30s. From a private wealth manager 's perspective, "old money" can be classified into two: active "old money" and passive "old money". The former includes inheritors who, despite

5829-400: The ruse, he placed a notice from the hotel's proprietor informing readers that, if Mr. Knickerbocker failed to return to the hotel to pay his bill, he would publish a manuscript that Knickerbocker had left behind. Unsuspecting readers followed the story of Knickerbocker and his manuscript with interest, and some New York city officials were concerned enough about the missing historian to offer

5916-447: The sixth issue of the New York edition and the second volume of the London edition). Like many successful authors of this era, Irving struggled against literary bootleggers. In England, some of his sketches were reprinted in periodicals without his permission, a legal practice as there was no international copyright law at the time. To prevent further piracy in Britain, Irving paid to have the first four American installments published as

6003-515: The slaves, many plantations were converted to sharecropping . African American freedmen were working as sharecroppers on the same land which they had worked as slaves before the war. Despite the fact that their circumstances were greatly reduced, the enactment of Jim Crow laws and the disenfranchisement of freed black people allowed many planter class families in the Southern United States to regain their political prominence, if not their great wealth, following Reconstruction (1863–1877). In

6090-430: The sole basis for attaining membership in exclusive clubs. The individual and family must meet the admissions committee's standards for values and behavior. Old money prevails over new money as the Rockefeller family experience suggests. John D. Rockefeller, the family founder and the nation's first billionaire, joined the Union League Club, a fairly respectable but not top-level club; John D. Rockefeller Jr., belonged to

6177-461: The source of the durable myth that medieval Europeans believed the Earth was flat . According to the popular book, Columbus proved the Earth was round. In 1829, Irving was elected to the American Philosophical Society . That same year, he moved into Granada's ancient palace Alhambra, "determined to linger here", he said, "until I get some writings under way connected with the place". Before he could get any significant writing underway, however, he

6264-466: The spring of 1823. He returned to Paris and began collaborating with playwright John Howard Payne on translations of French plays for the English stage, with little success. He also learned through Payne that the novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was romantically interested in him, though Irving never pursued the relationship. In August 1824, Irving published the collection of essays Tales of

6351-557: The various generals and politicians, as control of Spain rotated through Espartero , Bravo, then Narváez . Espartero was then locked in a power struggle with the Spanish Cortes. Irving's official reports on the ensuing civil war and revolution expressed his romantic fascination with the regent as young Queen Isabella's knight protector, He wrote with an anti-republican, undiplomatic bias. Though Espartero, ousted in July 1843, remained

6438-516: Was a traveling peddler ; Cornelius Vanderbilt , whose father operated a ferry in New York Harbor ; Henry Flagler , who was the son of a Presbyterian minister; and Andrew Carnegie , who was the son of a Scottish weaver. In contrast to the nouveau riche , whose riches were acquired in their own generation, the upper-upper class were families viewed as "quasi-aristocratic" and " high society ". These families had been rich and prominent in

6525-484: Was adopted by the New York Knickerbockers basketball team. After the success of A History of New York , Irving searched for a job and eventually became an editor of Analectic Magazine , where he wrote biographies of naval heroes such as James Lawrence and Oliver Hazard Perry . He was also among the first magazine editors to reprint Francis Scott Key 's poem "Defense of Fort McHenry ", which

6612-514: Was also admired by some British writers, including Lord Byron , Thomas Campbell , Charles Dickens , Mary Shelley , Francis Jeffrey , and Walter Scott . He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement. Washington Irving's parents were William Irving Sr., originally of Quholm , Shapinsay , Orkney , Scotland, and Sarah (née Saunders), originally of Falmouth, Cornwall , England. They married in 1761 while William

6699-474: Was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories " Rip Van Winkle " (1819) and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith , Muhammad , and George Washington , as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as

6786-539: Was buried under a simple headstone at Sleepy Hollow cemetery on December 1, 1859. Irving and his grave were commemorated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1876 poem "In the Churchyard at Tarrytown", which concludes with: How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death! Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours, Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer; Dying, to leave a memory like the breath Of summers full of sunshine and of showers, A grief and gladness in

6873-499: Was disastrous for many American merchants, including Irving's family, and he left for England in mid-1815 to salvage the family trading company. He remained in Europe for the next 17 years. Irving spent the next two years trying to bail out the family firm financially but eventually had to declare bankruptcy. With no job prospects, he continued writing throughout 1817 and 1818. In the summer of 1817, he visited Walter Scott , beginning

6960-494: Was dwindling, in large part because of the movement of wealthy families to the suburbs. In 1959, the Knickerbocker Club considered rejoining the Union Club, merging its 550 members with the Union Club's 900 men, but the plan never came to fruition. The Knick's current clubhouse, a neo-Georgian structure at 2 East 62nd Street, was commissioned in 1913 and completed in 1915, on the site of the former mansion of Josephine Schmid,

7047-646: Was immortalized as " The Star-Spangled Banner ". Irving initially opposed the War of 1812 like many other merchants, but the British attack on Washington, D.C. , in 1814 convinced him to enlist. He served on the staff of Daniel Tompkins , governor of New York and commander of the New York State Militia, but he saw no real action apart from a reconnaissance mission in the Great Lakes region. The war

7134-492: Was notified of his appointment as Secretary to the American Legation in London. Worried he would disappoint friends and family if he refused the position, Irving left Spain for England in July 1829. Arriving in London, Irving joined the staff of American Minister Louis McLane . McLane immediately assigned the daily secretary work to another man and tapped Irving to fill the role of aide-de-camp. The two worked over

7221-438: Was pleased that his brother's health was improving, but he did not like the choice to " gallop through Italy … leaving Florence on your left and Venice on your right". Instead, Irving honed the social and conversational skills that eventually made him one of the world's most in-demand guests. "I endeavor to take things as they come with cheerfulness", Irving wrote, "and when I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I endeavor to get

7308-441: Was published in January 1828. The book was popular in the United States and in Europe and would have 175 editions published before the end of the century. It was also the first project of Irving's to be published with his own name, instead of a pseudonym, on the title page. Irving was invited to stay at the palace of the Duke of Gor , who gave him unfettered access to his library containing many medieval manuscripts. A Chronicle of

7395-616: Was relieved at its reception, which did much to cement his reputation with European readers. Still struggling with writer's block, Irving traveled to Germany, settling in Dresden in the winter of 1822. Here he dazzled the royal family and attached himself to Amelia Foster, an American living in Dresden with her five children. The 39-year-old Irving was particularly attracted to Foster's 18-year-old daughter Emily and vied in frustration for her hand. Emily finally refused his offer of marriage in

7482-490: Was serving as a petty officer in the British Navy. They had eleven children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. Their first two sons died in infancy, both named William, as did their fourth child John. Their surviving children were William Jr. (1766), Ann (1770), Peter (1771), Catherine (1774), Ebenezer (1776), John Treat (1778), Sarah (1780), and Washington. The Irving family settled in Manhattan, and were part of

7569-473: Was unprecedented at that time. As he revised his older works for Putnam, he continued to write regularly, publishing biographies of Oliver Goldsmith in 1849 and Islamic prophet Muhammad in 1850. In 1855, he produced Wolfert's Roost , a collection of stories and essays that he had written for The Knickerbocker and other publications, and he began publishing a biography of his namesake George Washington which he expected to be his masterpiece. Five volumes of

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