THE    CITY    OF    NEW    YORK.----SC.                                                     575

clined. He rendered active service in the campaign of 1856 and received the appoint¬
ment as Collector of the Port of New York, which office he held until the election of
Abraham Lincoln. He was one of those who went upon the bail bond of Jefferson
Davis. After the war, Mr. Schell gave his attention to railroads, becoming a director
of The Harlem Railroad in 1872 and of The Hudson River Railroad in 1874 and an in¬
timate friend of Commodore Vanderbilt. The consolidation of The New York Central
& Hudson River system brought him large means and he became a director
successively of The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, The New York, New Haven &
Hartford, The Chicago & Northwestern, The Union Pacific, and The Canada Southern
Railroads, as well as of The Union Trust Co., The Western Union Telegraph Co., and
The Manhattan Life Insurance Co. He was also a trustee of many philanthropic in¬
stitutions. Politics continued to exert a strong fascination upon Mr. Schell. A mem¬
ber of the State Constitutional Convention in 1867, he helped reorganize the Tammany
Society in 1871-72, accepting the office of Grand Sachem in 1872 and holding it until
his death. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1872 and 1876
and a member of the new Constitutional Convention in 1872. In 1877, he was defeated
for the State Senate by Mr. Morrissey and in 1878 for Mayor by Edward Cooper. Mr.
Schell helped organize the Manhattan club in 1865, and was manager 1865-71, presi¬
dent 1871-77, and vice president 1878-84. He was also a governor of the St. Nicholas
club. His wife, Anna M., survived him They were married in 1873 ^.nd had no
children. Mr. Schell was a man of kindly disposition, easy of approach, calm in
temperament, with many friends.     Several public bequests appeared in his will.

WILLIAM HENRY SCHIEFFELIN, merchant, born Aug. 20, 1836, in New York
city, died in town June 21, 1895. His family traces its ancestry for seven centuries
back to Norlingen, Germany. One branch of the family became conspicuous in
Switzerland as owners of land and Syndics of Geneva. The pioneer in America, Jacob
Schieffelin,. sailed from Germany to Philadelphia in 1740 and returned to the father¬
land, but his son, Jacob, came to Philadelphia in 1745 and remained in the new world.
Jacob, son of the latter, served on the staff of Gen. Henry Hamilton and won the affec¬
tion of a beautiful American girl, whom he married. He settled in New York city in
1780 and here established on Pearl street, after a time, what subsequently became the
famous wholesale drug business of the Schieffelins. His wife was Hannah, daughter
of John Lawrence, land holder of Queens county, and Mr. Schieffelin took John B.
Lawrence, his wife's nephew, into partnership in the drug business. Mr. Schieffelin
wished to own ships as well as sell drugs and a disagreement on this point resulted in a
separation of the partners. After the retirement of Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Schieffelin
carried on business on his own account. In 1813, his son Henry Hamilton Schieffelin
succeeded to the management under the name of H. H. Schieffelin & Co., to be in turn
succeeded, in the '50s, by the four sons of the latter, Samuel Bradhurst, Sidney Augustus,
James Lawrence and Bradhurst Schieffelin, as Schieffelin Bro's & Co. In 1849, the
stock and business of Hoadley, Phelps & Co., were acquired by purchase. William H.
Schieffelin was the only son of Samuel B. and Lucretia Hazard Schieffelin. He grew
up in his father's firm and was early admitted to partnership, but enlivened his career
with early exploration and adventure. In i860, he crossed the Rocky Mountains in
Montana with a party of men, who, being captured by the Indians, came near losing
their lives.    In 1862, Mr. Schieffelin went to the front with the 7th N. Y. militia, re-