Hugh D Auchincloss

Early life

Auchincloss was born at Hammersmith Farm in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the son of Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Sr. (1858–1913), a merchant and financier, and Emma Brewster Jennings. His maternal grandparents were Oliver Burr Jennings and Esther Judson Goodsell. His uncles included Edgar Stirling Auchincloss, the father of U.S. Representative James C. Auchincloss, and John Winthrop Auchincloss, the grandfather of Louis Auchincloss, an attorney and author. He had two older sisters, Esther Judson Auchincloss and Ann Burr Auchincloss.

Auchincloss graduated from Groton School in Massachusetts and then from Yale University in 1920, where he was elected to the Elihu Senior Society. He earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1924.

Career

From 1924 to 1926, Auchincloss practiced law in New York City, before joining the Commerce Department as a special agent in aeronautics. In 1927, he was appointed an aviation expert in the State Department. Four years later in 1931, he resigned government service to form a brokerage firm.

In 1931, he bought his seat on the New York Stock Exchange for $235,000 (equivalent to $3,701,000 in 2016). It was reported that he used some of the large inheritance received from his mother to found the Washington, DC brokerage firm of "Auchincloss, Parker & Redpath" with Chauncey B. Parker and Albert G. Redpath. The firm eventually had 16 offices with two in New York City and the rest spread along the East Coast. In 1970, the firm merged with Thomson & McKinnon, a brokerage house based in New York. At that time of the merger, the new firm, known as Thomson & McKinnon Auchincloss, had assets of $160 million (equivalent to $673,404,000 in 2016) and 58 offices. By the time of his Auchincloss' death in 1976, the firm was known as Thomson & McKinnon Auchincloss Kohlmeyer.

In the course of World War II, Auchincloss served in roles for the Office of Naval Intelligence and the War Department. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve on May 26, 1942, and fulfilled his duties in the United States Navy throughout the conflict.

Personal life

Auchincloss was married thrice throughout his life and had five children. His first marriage was on June 4, 1925 to Maya de Chrapovitsky (1899-1990), a Russian noblewoman. Before their divorce in 1932, they had one child together:

In 1935, he married Nina S. Gore, the only daughter of Senator Thomas Gore. Nina had previously been married to Eugene Vidal, a Roosevelt appointee, and with him had Gore Vidal, the author. Before their divorce in 1941, they had two children:

On June 21, 1942, he married for the third and final time to Janet Lee Bouvier, the mother of future First Lady Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier and Caroline Lee Bouvier. They remained married until his death in 1976 and had two children together:

Auchincloss was responsible for getting Jacqueline Bouvier her first job in journalism at the Washington Times-Herald. He gave her away at her wedding to future president John F. Kennedy, the reception of which was held at Hammersmith Farm on September 12, 1953. A long-time financial contributor to the Republican Party, he contributed to the campaign of his Democratic stepson-in-law, saying "I want to live in harmony with Mrs. Auchincloss and all the other members of the family."

Auchincloss died at his home in Georgetown on November 20, 1976 and was later buried at Island Cemetery in Newport.

Club memberships

Auchincloss was a member of the University Club, the New York Yacht Club, Grolier Club and Racquet and Tennis Club of New York. In Washington, he was a member of the Burning Tree Club and the Metropolitan Club.