John Rathbone was born 20 Oct 1751, the first child of the Reverend John Rathbone, who was on a Committee of Correspondence for Stonington CT, and his wife Content Brown.
He married Eunice Wells, daughter of Ensign Thomas Wells and Sarah Thompson, in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, on June 23, 1774.
John later removed to New York City, New York County, New York, where he became a very wealthy merchant. The book Rathbone Genealogy says:
"Before leaving Stonington Point, Conn., for New York City, he had accumulated in merchandising over $30,000."
"He embodied to a remarkable degree the best features of New England character. He had industry, perseverence, integrity, sagacity and sound judgment, which enabled him to conduct successfully an immense business and to amass a large fortune."
"So prominent a position did he and his son John, Jr., take among the leading business characters of their city, that they stood at the head of the mercantile body of our greatest commercial city."
To John and Eunice were born eleven children. The first eight children were born in Stonington, Connecticut. Around 1791, John removed to New York County (Manhattan), New York Colony, where the last three children were born. He became a very successful and very wealthy merchant. As of about 1810, his residence in Manhattan was at No. 10 Le Roy Place.
His children by wife Eunice Wells were:
1. Content Rathbone (1775-1863), who married Robert Chesebrough; they died in NYC.
2. John Rathbone (1777-1842), died unmarried in NYC
3. Thomas Wells Rathbone (1729-1826); d. in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, KY.
4. Eunice Rathbone (1782-1865), who married Hezekiah Goddard, Esq. of New London, New London Co., CT.
5. Sarah "Sally" Rathbone (1784-1823), who married Joshua Downer, Esq.; they lived in Zanesville, OH, where she is buried.
6. Clarissa Harlowe Rathbone (1786-1844), who was named after the title character ("Clarissa Harlowe") of the novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady, by English novelist Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. Clarissa married Theophilus Washington Smith, an attorney who worked in the law office of Aaron Burr. He removed his family to Edwardsville, IL, where he later became an Associate Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. In the 1836 Boon v. Juliet case, he delivered the Court opinion that sharply reduced the legal basis for existing slavery in Illinois. He ruled that an 1807 territorial act regarding registration of servants did not affect the rights of the children, writing that "I am clearly of opinion that the children of registered negroes and mulattoes, under the laws of the Territories of Indiana and Illinois, are unquestionably free." According to historian N. Dwight Harris, "The importance of this decision is at once apparent, when we remember that the larger proportion of the younger slaves were the offspring of [parents who] who had been indentured under these Territorial laws. It is most difficult to determine at present [1904] just how many received their freedom through this act of the Supreme Court, but the number must have been considerable."
7. James Manning Rathbone (1789-1811) died in the West Indies.
8. Eliza Rathbone (1791-1853); who married Charles Wetmore; they lived in Clinton Township; Franklin County, OH. on property that once belonged to John.
9. Juliette Rathbone (1794-1863), who married Appleton Downer; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
10. Emma Marie Rathbone(1797-1866), who married John R.W. Rhodes; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
11. Mary Rosalie Rathbone (1800-1878) married Samuel Bulkley Ruggles; she died in Orange County, NY.
Rathbone Genealogy said, "His daughters were all educated at the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa."
He married second Mary Sheffield (1762-1840) in Stonington, CT, in 1813. They had no children, and he outlived her by several years.
He died on March 13, 1843, in Manhattan, New York City, NY, and was buried at Saint Marks Church-In-The-Bowery Churchyard in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America.
This writer, a fifth great grand daughter through his daughter Clarissa , has a copy of his will and will inventory, which were found in the bottom of an ancient steamer trunk when I cleaned out my grandparents' house. According to the New York Court of Surrogates (David B. Ogden, Surrogate), Rathbone's estate was proved on May 11, 1843. The Court record in the will book begins on page 419 and ends on page 433. The value of his estate in 2023 dollars (using 2 percent inflation over 180 years) has been calculated at approximately $5.6 Million. The estate was divided unequally among the then-living children and the issue of two of the deceased children. The largest share went to Clarissa (Rathbone) Smith (wife of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Theophilus Washington Smith), who received, in 2023 value, about $735.6 thousand. Her sister Eliza (Rathbone) Wetmore (wife of Dr. Charles Henry Wetmore of Clintonville, Franklin County, Ohio), who received the next-larger share, at $732.3 thousand in 2023 value.
John owned three homes and properties in Manhattan. They were:
* his main home on Dey Street at Greenwich Street, with livery stables and carriages
* Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets
* 62 Fulton Street
* Several lots behind Nos. 23, 25 and 27 Cliff Street, fronting on Ryder Street (which is now Ryder Alley).
His main house on Dey Street at Greenwich St., sits today at 200 feet from the footprint of the World Trade Center's South Tower!
His house on Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets is probably at what is currently Union Square, now a major Manhattan park.
John also owned several railroad companies, life insurance companies, stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc.
He was a major property owner in the Northwest Territory, where he owned ten quarter townships, plus two one hundred-acre lots, of Ohio lands in the U.S. Military District, for a total (not including his New York Properties) of 39,874 and seven-tenths acres.
His Ohio properties were:
Twp,Range* | Sec (Qtr) | Acres | County (Township Name) | Image# Ancestry.com
4-N 19-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Delaware (Liberty) 288
5-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Delaware (Brown) 285
1-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Franklin (Clinton) | 282
2-N 17-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Franklin (Blendon) | 283
5-N 15-W | 1 (NE) | 4,000 Knox (Hilliar) | 287
7-N 11-W | 3 (SW) | 3,455.8 Knox (Howard?) | 284
2-N 12-W | 1 (NE) | 4,218.9 Licking (Newark) | 398
6-N 18-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Morrow (Peru) | 265
7-N 18-W | 1 (NE) | 200 Morrow (Lincoln) | 480
1-N 8-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Muskingum (Falls) | 264
7-N 1-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Tuscarawas (Perry?) | 286
Total Acreage: 39,874.7
* Townships are numbered going north from the southern baseline. Ranges are numbered westward to the Scioto River, beginning at the Seven Ranges. For a good explanation, see The Official Ohio Lands Book, by Dr. George W. Knepper, published in 2002 by the Auditor of State [of Ohio], and available in PDF format.
Later, John's property in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, had a village named Rathbone. There was, as of several years ago, one remaining road sign along route 745 southbound near Shawnee Hills.
According to Rathbone Genealogy, John's two wives were buried in the same tomb on "Second Street," but I believe this should have been Second Avenue, not Second Street. (These family genealogy books often contain many small factual errors of this sort.)
He married Eunice Wells, daughter of Ensign Thomas Wells and Sarah Thompson, in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, on June 23, 1774.
John later removed to New York City, New York County, New York, where he became a very wealthy merchant. The book Rathbone Genealogy says:
"Before leaving Stonington Point, Conn., for New York City, he had accumulated in merchandising over $30,000."
"He embodied to a remarkable degree the best features of New England character. He had industry, perseverence, integrity, sagacity and sound judgment, which enabled him to conduct successfully an immense business and to amass a large fortune."
"So prominent a position did he and his son John, Jr., take among the leading business characters of their city, that they stood at the head of the mercantile body of our greatest commercial city."
To John and Eunice were born eleven children. The first eight children were born in Stonington, Connecticut. Around 1791, John removed to New York County (Manhattan), New York Colony, where the last three children were born. He became a very successful and very wealthy merchant. As of about 1810, his residence in Manhattan was at No. 10 Le Roy Place.
His children by wife Eunice Wells were:
1. Content Rathbone (1775-1863), who married Robert Chesebrough; they died in NYC.
2. John Rathbone (1777-1842), died unmarried in NYC
3. Thomas Wells Rathbone (1729-1826); d. in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, KY.
4. Eunice Rathbone (1782-1865), who married Hezekiah Goddard, Esq. of New London, New London Co., CT.
5. Sarah "Sally" Rathbone (1784-1823), who married Joshua Downer, Esq.; they lived in Zanesville, OH, where she is buried.
6. Clarissa Harlowe Rathbone (1786-1844), who was named after the title character ("Clarissa Harlowe") of the novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady, by English novelist Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. Clarissa married Theophilus Washington Smith, an attorney who worked in the law office of Aaron Burr. He removed his family to Edwardsville, IL, where he later became an Associate Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. In the 1836 Boon v. Juliet case, he delivered the Court opinion that sharply reduced the legal basis for existing slavery in Illinois. He ruled that an 1807 territorial act regarding registration of servants did not affect the rights of the children, writing that "I am clearly of opinion that the children of registered negroes and mulattoes, under the laws of the Territories of Indiana and Illinois, are unquestionably free." According to historian N. Dwight Harris, "The importance of this decision is at once apparent, when we remember that the larger proportion of the younger slaves were the offspring of [parents who] who had been indentured under these Territorial laws. It is most difficult to determine at present [1904] just how many received their freedom through this act of the Supreme Court, but the number must have been considerable."
7. James Manning Rathbone (1789-1811) died in the West Indies.
8. Eliza Rathbone (1791-1853); who married Charles Wetmore; they lived in Clinton Township; Franklin County, OH. on property that once belonged to John.
9. Juliette Rathbone (1794-1863), who married Appleton Downer; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
10. Emma Marie Rathbone(1797-1866), who married John R.W. Rhodes; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
11. Mary Rosalie Rathbone (1800-1878) married Samuel Bulkley Ruggles; she died in Orange County, NY.
Rathbone Genealogy said, "His daughters were all educated at the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa."
He married second Mary Sheffield (1762-1840) in Stonington, CT, in 1813. They had no children, and he outlived her by several years.
He died on March 13, 1843, in Manhattan, New York City, NY, and was buried at Saint Marks Church-In-The-Bowery Churchyard in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America.
This writer, a fifth great grand daughter through his daughter Clarissa , has a copy of his will and will inventory, which were found in the bottom of an ancient steamer trunk when I cleaned out my grandparents' house. According to the New York Court of Surrogates (David B. Ogden, Surrogate), Rathbone's estate was proved on May 11, 1843. The Court record in the will book begins on page 419 and ends on page 433. The value of his estate in 2023 dollars (using 2 percent inflation over 180 years) has been calculated at approximately $5.6 Million. The estate was divided unequally among the then-living children and the issue of two of the deceased children. The largest share went to Clarissa (Rathbone) Smith (wife of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Theophilus Washington Smith), who received, in 2023 value, about $735.6 thousand. Her sister Eliza (Rathbone) Wetmore (wife of Dr. Charles Henry Wetmore of Clintonville, Franklin County, Ohio), who received the next-larger share, at $732.3 thousand in 2023 value.
John owned three homes and properties in Manhattan. They were:
* his main home on Dey Street at Greenwich Street, with livery stables and carriages
* Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets
* 62 Fulton Street
* Several lots behind Nos. 23, 25 and 27 Cliff Street, fronting on Ryder Street (which is now Ryder Alley).
His main house on Dey Street at Greenwich St., sits today at 200 feet from the footprint of the World Trade Center's South Tower!
His house on Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets is probably at what is currently Union Square, now a major Manhattan park.
John also owned several railroad companies, life insurance companies, stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc.
He was a major property owner in the Northwest Territory, where he owned ten quarter townships, plus two one hundred-acre lots, of Ohio lands in the U.S. Military District, for a total (not including his New York Properties) of 39,874 and seven-tenths acres.
His Ohio properties were:
Twp,Range* | Sec (Qtr) | Acres | County (Township Name) | Image# Ancestry.com
4-N 19-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Delaware (Liberty) 288
5-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Delaware (Brown) 285
1-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Franklin (Clinton) | 282
2-N 17-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Franklin (Blendon) | 283
5-N 15-W | 1 (NE) | 4,000 Knox (Hilliar) | 287
7-N 11-W | 3 (SW) | 3,455.8 Knox (Howard?) | 284
2-N 12-W | 1 (NE) | 4,218.9 Licking (Newark) | 398
6-N 18-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Morrow (Peru) | 265
7-N 18-W | 1 (NE) | 200 Morrow (Lincoln) | 480
1-N 8-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Muskingum (Falls) | 264
7-N 1-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Tuscarawas (Perry?) | 286
Total Acreage: 39,874.7
* Townships are numbered going north from the southern baseline. Ranges are numbered westward to the Scioto River, beginning at the Seven Ranges. For a good explanation, see The Official Ohio Lands Book, by Dr. George W. Knepper, published in 2002 by the Auditor of State [of Ohio], and available in PDF format.
Later, John's property in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, had a village named Rathbone. There was, as of several years ago, one remaining road sign along route 745 southbound near Shawnee Hills.
According to Rathbone Genealogy, John's two wives were buried in the same tomb on "Second Street," but I believe this should have been Second Avenue, not Second Street. (These family genealogy books often contain many small factual errors of this sort.)
John Rathbone was born 20 Oct 1751, the first child of the Reverend John Rathbone, who was on a Committee of Correspondence for Stonington CT, and his wife Content Brown.
He married Eunice Wells, daughter of Ensign Thomas Wells and Sarah Thompson, in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, on June 23, 1774.
John later removed to New York City, New York County, New York, where he became a very wealthy merchant. The book Rathbone Genealogy says:
"Before leaving Stonington Point, Conn., for New York City, he had accumulated in merchandising over $30,000."
"He embodied to a remarkable degree the best features of New England character. He had industry, perseverence, integrity, sagacity and sound judgment, which enabled him to conduct successfully an immense business and to amass a large fortune."
"So prominent a position did he and his son John, Jr., take among the leading business characters of their city, that they stood at the head of the mercantile body of our greatest commercial city."
To John and Eunice were born eleven children. The first eight children were born in Stonington, Connecticut. Around 1791, John removed to New York County (Manhattan), New York Colony, where the last three children were born. He became a very successful and very wealthy merchant. As of about 1810, his residence in Manhattan was at No. 10 Le Roy Place.
His children by wife Eunice Wells were:
1. Content Rathbone (1775-1863), who married Robert Chesebrough; they died in NYC.
2. John Rathbone (1777-1842), died unmarried in NYC
3. Thomas Wells Rathbone (1729-1826); d. in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, KY.
4. Eunice Rathbone (1782-1865), who married Hezekiah Goddard, Esq. of New London, New London Co., CT.
5. Sarah "Sally" Rathbone (1784-1823), who married Joshua Downer, Esq.; they lived in Zanesville, OH, where she is buried.
6. Clarissa Harlowe Rathbone (1786-1844), who was named after the title character ("Clarissa Harlowe") of the novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady, by English novelist Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. Clarissa married Theophilus Washington Smith, an attorney who worked in the law office of Aaron Burr. He removed his family to Edwardsville, IL, where he later became an Associate Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. In the 1836 Boon v. Juliet case, he delivered the Court opinion that sharply reduced the legal basis for existing slavery in Illinois. He ruled that an 1807 territorial act regarding registration of servants did not affect the rights of the children, writing that "I am clearly of opinion that the children of registered negroes and mulattoes, under the laws of the Territories of Indiana and Illinois, are unquestionably free." According to historian N. Dwight Harris, "The importance of this decision is at once apparent, when we remember that the larger proportion of the younger slaves were the offspring of [parents who] who had been indentured under these Territorial laws. It is most difficult to determine at present [1904] just how many received their freedom through this act of the Supreme Court, but the number must have been considerable."
7. James Manning Rathbone (1789-1811) died in the West Indies.
8. Eliza Rathbone (1791-1853); who married Charles Wetmore; they lived in Clinton Township; Franklin County, OH. on property that once belonged to John.
9. Juliette Rathbone (1794-1863), who married Appleton Downer; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
10. Emma Marie Rathbone(1797-1866), who married John R.W. Rhodes; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
11. Mary Rosalie Rathbone (1800-1878) married Samuel Bulkley Ruggles; she died in Orange County, NY.
Rathbone Genealogy said, "His daughters were all educated at the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa."
He married second Mary Sheffield (1762-1840) in Stonington, CT, in 1813. They had no children, and he outlived her by several years.
He died on March 13, 1843, in Manhattan, New York City, NY, and was buried at Saint Marks Church-In-The-Bowery Churchyard in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America.
This writer, a fifth great grand daughter through his daughter Clarissa , has a copy of his will and will inventory, which were found in the bottom of an ancient steamer trunk when I cleaned out my grandparents' house. According to the New York Court of Surrogates (David B. Ogden, Surrogate), Rathbone's estate was proved on May 11, 1843. The Court record in the will book begins on page 419 and ends on page 433. The value of his estate in 2023 dollars (using 2 percent inflation over 180 years) has been calculated at approximately $5.6 Million. The estate was divided unequally among the then-living children and the issue of two of the deceased children. The largest share went to Clarissa (Rathbone) Smith (wife of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Theophilus Washington Smith), who received, in 2023 value, about $735.6 thousand. Her sister Eliza (Rathbone) Wetmore (wife of Dr. Charles Henry Wetmore of Clintonville, Franklin County, Ohio), who received the next-larger share, at $732.3 thousand in 2023 value.
John owned three homes and properties in Manhattan. They were:
* his main home on Dey Street at Greenwich Street, with livery stables and carriages
* Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets
* 62 Fulton Street
* Several lots behind Nos. 23, 25 and 27 Cliff Street, fronting on Ryder Street (which is now Ryder Alley).
His main house on Dey Street at Greenwich St., sits today at 200 feet from the footprint of the World Trade Center's South Tower!
His house on Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets is probably at what is currently Union Square, now a major Manhattan park.
John also owned several railroad companies, life insurance companies, stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc.
He was a major property owner in the Northwest Territory, where he owned ten quarter townships, plus two one hundred-acre lots, of Ohio lands in the U.S. Military District, for a total (not including his New York Properties) of 39,874 and seven-tenths acres.
His Ohio properties were:
Twp,Range* | Sec (Qtr) | Acres | County (Township Name) | Image# Ancestry.com
4-N 19-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Delaware (Liberty) 288
5-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Delaware (Brown) 285
1-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Franklin (Clinton) | 282
2-N 17-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Franklin (Blendon) | 283
5-N 15-W | 1 (NE) | 4,000 Knox (Hilliar) | 287
7-N 11-W | 3 (SW) | 3,455.8 Knox (Howard?) | 284
2-N 12-W | 1 (NE) | 4,218.9 Licking (Newark) | 398
6-N 18-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Morrow (Peru) | 265
7-N 18-W | 1 (NE) | 200 Morrow (Lincoln) | 480
1-N 8-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Muskingum (Falls) | 264
7-N 1-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Tuscarawas (Perry?) | 286
Total Acreage: 39,874.7
* Townships are numbered going north from the southern baseline. Ranges are numbered westward to the Scioto River, beginning at the Seven Ranges. For a good explanation, see The Official Ohio Lands Book, by Dr. George W. Knepper, published in 2002 by the Auditor of State [of Ohio], and available in PDF format.
Later, John's property in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, had a village named Rathbone. There was, as of several years ago, one remaining road sign along route 745 southbound near Shawnee Hills.
According to Rathbone Genealogy, John's two wives were buried in the same tomb on "Second Street," but I believe this should have been Second Avenue, not Second Street. (These family genealogy books often contain many small factual errors of this sort.)
He married Eunice Wells, daughter of Ensign Thomas Wells and Sarah Thompson, in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, on June 23, 1774.
John later removed to New York City, New York County, New York, where he became a very wealthy merchant. The book Rathbone Genealogy says:
"Before leaving Stonington Point, Conn., for New York City, he had accumulated in merchandising over $30,000."
"He embodied to a remarkable degree the best features of New England character. He had industry, perseverence, integrity, sagacity and sound judgment, which enabled him to conduct successfully an immense business and to amass a large fortune."
"So prominent a position did he and his son John, Jr., take among the leading business characters of their city, that they stood at the head of the mercantile body of our greatest commercial city."
To John and Eunice were born eleven children. The first eight children were born in Stonington, Connecticut. Around 1791, John removed to New York County (Manhattan), New York Colony, where the last three children were born. He became a very successful and very wealthy merchant. As of about 1810, his residence in Manhattan was at No. 10 Le Roy Place.
His children by wife Eunice Wells were:
1. Content Rathbone (1775-1863), who married Robert Chesebrough; they died in NYC.
2. John Rathbone (1777-1842), died unmarried in NYC
3. Thomas Wells Rathbone (1729-1826); d. in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, KY.
4. Eunice Rathbone (1782-1865), who married Hezekiah Goddard, Esq. of New London, New London Co., CT.
5. Sarah "Sally" Rathbone (1784-1823), who married Joshua Downer, Esq.; they lived in Zanesville, OH, where she is buried.
6. Clarissa Harlowe Rathbone (1786-1844), who was named after the title character ("Clarissa Harlowe") of the novel Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady, by English novelist Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. Clarissa married Theophilus Washington Smith, an attorney who worked in the law office of Aaron Burr. He removed his family to Edwardsville, IL, where he later became an Associate Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. In the 1836 Boon v. Juliet case, he delivered the Court opinion that sharply reduced the legal basis for existing slavery in Illinois. He ruled that an 1807 territorial act regarding registration of servants did not affect the rights of the children, writing that "I am clearly of opinion that the children of registered negroes and mulattoes, under the laws of the Territories of Indiana and Illinois, are unquestionably free." According to historian N. Dwight Harris, "The importance of this decision is at once apparent, when we remember that the larger proportion of the younger slaves were the offspring of [parents who] who had been indentured under these Territorial laws. It is most difficult to determine at present [1904] just how many received their freedom through this act of the Supreme Court, but the number must have been considerable."
7. James Manning Rathbone (1789-1811) died in the West Indies.
8. Eliza Rathbone (1791-1853); who married Charles Wetmore; they lived in Clinton Township; Franklin County, OH. on property that once belonged to John.
9. Juliette Rathbone (1794-1863), who married Appleton Downer; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
10. Emma Marie Rathbone(1797-1866), who married John R.W. Rhodes; they lived in Zanesville, OH.
11. Mary Rosalie Rathbone (1800-1878) married Samuel Bulkley Ruggles; she died in Orange County, NY.
Rathbone Genealogy said, "His daughters were all educated at the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa."
He married second Mary Sheffield (1762-1840) in Stonington, CT, in 1813. They had no children, and he outlived her by several years.
He died on March 13, 1843, in Manhattan, New York City, NY, and was buried at Saint Marks Church-In-The-Bowery Churchyard in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America.
This writer, a fifth great grand daughter through his daughter Clarissa , has a copy of his will and will inventory, which were found in the bottom of an ancient steamer trunk when I cleaned out my grandparents' house. According to the New York Court of Surrogates (David B. Ogden, Surrogate), Rathbone's estate was proved on May 11, 1843. The Court record in the will book begins on page 419 and ends on page 433. The value of his estate in 2023 dollars (using 2 percent inflation over 180 years) has been calculated at approximately $5.6 Million. The estate was divided unequally among the then-living children and the issue of two of the deceased children. The largest share went to Clarissa (Rathbone) Smith (wife of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Theophilus Washington Smith), who received, in 2023 value, about $735.6 thousand. Her sister Eliza (Rathbone) Wetmore (wife of Dr. Charles Henry Wetmore of Clintonville, Franklin County, Ohio), who received the next-larger share, at $732.3 thousand in 2023 value.
John owned three homes and properties in Manhattan. They were:
* his main home on Dey Street at Greenwich Street, with livery stables and carriages
* Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets
* 62 Fulton Street
* Several lots behind Nos. 23, 25 and 27 Cliff Street, fronting on Ryder Street (which is now Ryder Alley).
His main house on Dey Street at Greenwich St., sits today at 200 feet from the footprint of the World Trade Center's South Tower!
His house on Union Place between 15th and 16th Streets is probably at what is currently Union Square, now a major Manhattan park.
John also owned several railroad companies, life insurance companies, stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc.
He was a major property owner in the Northwest Territory, where he owned ten quarter townships, plus two one hundred-acre lots, of Ohio lands in the U.S. Military District, for a total (not including his New York Properties) of 39,874 and seven-tenths acres.
His Ohio properties were:
Twp,Range* | Sec (Qtr) | Acres | County (Township Name) | Image# Ancestry.com
4-N 19-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Delaware (Liberty) 288
5-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Delaware (Brown) 285
1-N 18-W | 2 (NW) | 4,000 Franklin (Clinton) | 282
2-N 17-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Franklin (Blendon) | 283
5-N 15-W | 1 (NE) | 4,000 Knox (Hilliar) | 287
7-N 11-W | 3 (SW) | 3,455.8 Knox (Howard?) | 284
2-N 12-W | 1 (NE) | 4,218.9 Licking (Newark) | 398
6-N 18-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Morrow (Peru) | 265
7-N 18-W | 1 (NE) | 200 Morrow (Lincoln) | 480
1-N 8-W | 3 (SW) | 4,000 Muskingum (Falls) | 264
7-N 1-W | 4 (SE) | 4,000 Tuscarawas (Perry?) | 286
Total Acreage: 39,874.7
* Townships are numbered going north from the southern baseline. Ranges are numbered westward to the Scioto River, beginning at the Seven Ranges. For a good explanation, see The Official Ohio Lands Book, by Dr. George W. Knepper, published in 2002 by the Auditor of State [of Ohio], and available in PDF format.
Later, John's property in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, had a village named Rathbone. There was, as of several years ago, one remaining road sign along route 745 southbound near Shawnee Hills.
According to Rathbone Genealogy, John's two wives were buried in the same tomb on "Second Street," but I believe this should have been Second Avenue, not Second Street. (These family genealogy books often contain many small factual errors of this sort.)
Family Members
Siblings
Children
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Content Rathbone Chesebrough
1775–1863
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John Rathbone Jr
1777–1842
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Thomas Wells Rathbone
1779–1826
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Eunice Rathbone Goddard
1782–1865
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Clarissa Harlowe Rathbone Smith
1786–1844
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Eliza Rathbone Wetmore
1791–1853
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Juliete Rathbone Downer
1794–1863
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Emma Maria Rathbone Rhodes
1797–1866
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Mary Rosalie Rathbone Ruggles
1800–1878
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Records on Ancestry
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