Edward Holland Caldwell (1844-1872) was the son of James Henry Caldwell and Margaret Placide (Margaret Abrams). The parents were not married. James Henry was still married to Maria Carter Hall, who remained in Virginia.  Edward Holland was the second great-grandfather of my wife.

On March 11, 1857 an act was passed by the Louisiana legislature  allowing Edward Holland and his brother James Henry Jr. (1838-1870)  to inherit on the same basis as legitimate children.

Edward Holland, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 8, 1844, died in New York City, October 5, 1872. He was associated with his father in the gas and banking companies. He was president of the Mobile Gas Light and Coke Company, and made his residence in Mobile.  The family were Catholics, except Edward Holland Caldwell, who embraced the Protestant faith. This allowed him to become a thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite of the Masons.

Edward Holland married Caroline Amelia Shields, a native of Mobile. She survived her husband, and married Santos Santiago Rubira (1832-1914), a prominent capitalist of Mobile.

The children of Edward Holland and Caroline Amelia were:

James Henry (1865-1931)
Edward Shields (1867-1925)  a capitalist of Asheville, North Carolina, and an extensive traveler; he married Louise Wood Moore.
Sarah (1871-1947), married (first) Nathaniel Rutter (1863-1891), of New York City, leaving a son, Edward Caldwell Rutter (1890-1947): she married (second) 1902, Nathaniel Claude Reynal (1871-1928), of New York City. Their children were Nathalie (1902-1968), Nathaniel Jules (1903-1950),  and Amilie (1909-1917).

Jonathan Lawrence (1737 – 1812) was an American merchant and politician from New York. He was the paternal grandfather of the wife of 3rd great-granduncle of my wife.

Jonathan was born on October 4, 1737 in Newtown, Queens County, in what was then the Province of New York. He was the eighth son born to Patience (née Sackett) Lawrence (1701–1772) and John Lawrence (1695–1765).

His paternal grandparents were John Lawrence and Deborah (née Woodhull) Lawrence and his maternal grandparents were Capt. Joseph Sackett and Elizabeth (née Betts) Sackett. His paternal great grandparents were Thomas Lawrence (1619 – 1703) and Mary Ferguson (1624-1692) who emigrated to  North America.

Jonathan’s brother Daniel Lawrence was an Assemblyman and his nephew Nathaniel Lawrence (son of Thomas) was New York State Attorney General. Congressman James Lent and Recorder Richard Riker were his great-nephews.

At a young age, Jonathan became a merchant, visiting Europe and the West Indies in the employment of his eldest brother, John Lawrence, before joining the house of Watson, Murray & Lawrence. After inheriting his brother John’s estate and a portion of his brother Nathaniel’s estate (who died unmarried in the West Indies), he retired c. 1771, around age thirty-four, and purchased a residence at Hurlgate which had been owned by his great-grandfather Thomas Lawrence, the youngest of three brothers who emigrated to America around 1645.

In 1772, he had been appointed captain in the provincial militia by the royal government. Once the New York Provincial Congress organized a militia in 1775, he was appointed major of the Queens and Suffolk brigade under Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull.

In August 1776, on the eve of the Battle of Long Island, his militia was sent to drive livestock in an effort to prevent it from falling into British hands. While the activities indirectly claimed the life of Woodhull, he had been ordered to Harlem to seek reinforcements from General George Washington.

Beginning in May 1775 Lawrence was a member of the 1st, 3rd (May to June 1776) and 4th New York Provincial Congresses (beginning in July 1776, which became known as the First Constitutional Convention)

Lawrence was appointed by Constitutional Convention to represent the Southern District of New York (consisting of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties) in the New York State Senate beginning with the 1st New York State Legislature in 1777 to the 6th in 1783. On October 17, 1778, he was one of four elected to the Council of Appointment, serving for one year. He was again one of four elected to the Council on July 22, 1782.

He later served as chairman of the city’s committee for the reelection of George Clinton as governor (who later became the 4th Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison).

On March 16, 1766, he married Judith Fish (1749–1767), the daughter of Nathaniel Fish and Jannetje (née Berrien) Fish (a sister of Judge John Berrien). Jannetje’s niece, Elizabeth Berrien, was married to Fish’s nephew Nathaniel Lawrence, and was the aunt of John M. Berrien, the United States Attorney General under President Andrew Jackson. Before Judith’s death on September 29, 1767, at age seventeen, they were the parents of one son: Jonathan Lawrence (1767–1850) (q.v.), a merchant with Lawrence & Whitney who married Elizabeth Rogers.

After his first wife’s death in 1767, the elder Jonathan married Ruth Riker (1746–1818), a member of the Riker family, for whom Rikers Island is named. Ruth was the daughter of Andrew and Jane Riker. Together, they were the parents of nine children, including:

Judith Lawrence (1769–1827), who married John Ireland (1749–1836).
Margaret Lawrence (1771–1851), who died unmarried, aged 81.
Samuel Lawrence (1773–1837), who married Elizabeth Ireland,[1] and became a U.S. Representative.
Andrew Lawrence (1775–1806), a sailor who died “of the African fever, in one of the Dutch factory islands, near an outlet of that river, which has since been discovered to be the ancient Niger.”
Richard M. Lawrence (1778–1856), a merchant who sailed around the world, and upon his return to New York in 1815, became the vice-president of the National Insurance Company and then president of the Union Insurance Company, both in New York.
Abraham Riker Lawrence (1780–1863), who served as president of the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1836 (after John Mason).
Joseph Lawrence (1783–1817), who married Mary Sackett, daughter of John Sackett and Elizabeth (née Gibbs) Sackett.
John L. Lawrence (1785–1849), who married Sarah Augusta Smith (1794–1877), daughter of General John Tangier Smith and granddaughter of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull.
William Thomas Lawrence (1788–1859), a merchant who married Margaret Sophia Muller, daughter of Remburtus F. Muller, in 1825.
Lawrence died on September 4, 1812 in New York City.

Through his eldest daughter Judith, he was a grandfather of John Lawrence Ireland (1796–1879), who married Mary Floyd, a sister of John Gelston Floyd, a U.S. Representative, and a granddaughter of David Gelston (the Collector of the Port of New York) and William Floyd (a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence). Ireland was the father of John Busteed Ireland (who married Adelia Duane Pell, daughter of Robert Livingston Pell). Another grandchild was Louisa Anna Ireland (1800–1845), who married Henry Woodhull Nicholl, and was the mother of three: Elizabeth Smith Nicholl (first wife of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, a grandson, and namesake, of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury), Mary Louisa Ireland (wife of Maj. Henry Constantine Wayne of the U.S. Army), and Judith Ireland (wife of Capt. William Blair).

Jonathan Lawrence, son of John & Patience Lawrence, born in Newtown Oct. 4, 1737 O. S., died in the City of New York Sept. 1, 1812. His long and exemplary life was distinguished by private & public usefulness. He was a member of the Provincial Congress of 1776 and of the convention that established the Constitution of this State, and represented the Southern District in Senate until the Peace of 1783.

Under this Monument lies the remains of Jonathan Lawrence and Ruth Lawrence, his wife. They were united by the sincerest affection for more than forty years and now sleep together in one sepulchre.

1813-1884

married Elizabeth Lawrence

John L. Lawrence 1785-1849

Distinguished career in Politics and Public Service: Appointed Secretary of Legation to Sweden, became United States Charge at Stockholm, elected member of Assembly for NYC, elected State Senator, first president of the Croton Aqueduct Commisson, Treasurer of Columbia College and Controller of the City of New York.

Husband of Sarah Augusta Smith. They were parents of eleven children, including: Mary [died young], Richard, Egbert, Robert, Charles Jeffrey, Ann Middleton Suydam and Hon Abraham Riker Lawrence. Died of cholera.

John L. Lawrence (October 2, 1785 – July 24, 1849) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and politician from New York.

Early life
John was born in New York City. He was the son of Jonathan Lawrence (1737–1812), a merchant and New York State Senator, and Ruth (née Riker) Lawrence (1746–1818), a member of the Riker family, for whom Rikers Island is named.[1] Among his siblings were brothers Samuel Lawrence (1773–1837), a Congressmen, and William T. Lawrence (1788–1859).[2]

He was also a direct descendant of Capt. James Lawrence, a hero of the War of 1812,[3] and Maj. Thomas Lawrence of the British Army who received a land grant in 1656 in what became Queens.[4]

He graduated from Columbia College in 1803.[5]

Career
From June 7, 1814, to May 19, 1815, he was Chargé d’Affaires at Stockholm, representing the United States during the absence of Minister to Sweden Jonathan Russell.[6]

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1816–17. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821.[7]

He was a presidential elector in 1840, voting for William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.[7]

He was a member of the New York State Senate (4th D.) in 1848 and 1849. In May 1849, he was appointed New York City Comptroller,[8] but died two months later.[7]

Personal life
On June 2, 1816, he married Sarah Augusta Smith (1794–1877), daughter of Elizabeth (née Woodhull) Smith (daughter of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull) and General John Tangier Smith, a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from New York.[9] Together, John and Sarah were the parents of eleven children, including Abraham Riker Lawrence, a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York.[10]

Lawrence died of cholera in New York City on July 24, 1849.[11]

Abraham Riker Lawrence (September 19, 1832 – February 14, 1917)[1] was an American lawyer, judge, and historian.

Early life[edit]

Abraham was born in New York City on September 19, 1832 and was the namesake of his paternal uncle, Abraham Riker Lawrence, a merchant.[2][3] He was one of eleven children born to John L. Lawrence (1785–1849) and Sarah Augusta (née Smith) Lawrence (1794–1877). Among his siblings was Ann Middleton (née Lawrence) Suydam, who married John Richard Suydam, a merchant and “gentleman well-known in New-York society for his genial and hospitably qualities” (parents of Jane Mesier Suydam),[4] Richard Montgomery Lawrence; and Charles William Lawrence.[5] His father was a New York State Senator, Comptroller of New York City and diplomat (who served as chargé d’Affaires at Stockholm during the absence of U.S. Minister to Sweden Jonathan Russell).[1]

His paternal grandparents were Jonathan Lawrence, a merchant and New York State Senator, and Ruth (née Riker) Lawrence, a member of the Riker family, for whom Rikers Island is named.[6] Among his extended family were uncles, Congressmen Samuel Lawrence and William T. Lawrence, as well as William Beach Lawrence, the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, and Brigadier General Albert G. Lawrence.[2] He was also a direct descendant of Capt. James Lawrence, a hero of the War of 1812,[7] and Maj. Thomas Lawrence of the British Army who received a land grant in what became Queens in 1656.[8] His maternal grandparents were Elizabeth (née Woodhull) Smith (daughter of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull) and General John Tangier Smith, a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from New York.[9]

Lawrence was educated at private schools and then attended and graduated from Ballston Spa Law School in Ballston Spa, New York.[9]

Career[edit]

After being admitted to the bar in 1853, he was appointed and served as Assistant Corporation Counsel of New York City from 1853 to 1856 and from 1857 to 1858. In 1859, Lawrence wrote Compilation of the Tax Laws of the State of New York, with notes of Cases.[10] In 1867, he was a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1870, he was one of the founders of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (serving as vice-president in 1905 and 1906).[9]

Political career[edit]

In 1870, he was a leading member of Apollo Hall,[11] a Democratic reform movement founded by New York State Senator James O’Brien as a response to the corruption of Boss Tweed controlled Tammany Hall.[12]

In 1872, Lawrence, then a lawyer doing business at 25 Nassau Street, was selected by both Tammany Hall (even though he had been a vocal opponent of Tammany)[13] and the Greeleyites as the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City against the O’Brien, the Apollo candidate, and William Frederick Havemeyer, the Republican candidate.[11][14] Lawrence came in second place, losing to Havemeyer,[15] in what became Havemeyer’s third non-consecutive term as mayor.[1]

In 1873, he was elected a justice of the Supreme Court of New York. He was reelected in 1887 and served on the bench for twenty-eight years until December 31, 1901.[16] After his retirement, a dinner was given in his honor at Delmonico’s and hosted by John Edward Parsons, president of the Bar Association.[16] From 1911 until his death, he served as the official Referee of the Supreme Court.[1]

Society life[edit]

Lawrence was a member of the Union Club, the Century Club and the Manhattan Club. In addition to membership in the Society of Colonial Wars (serving as Chancellor in 1895)[5] and the American Rifle Association, he served two terms as president the 25th President of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York from 1882 to 1883, succeeding Edward Floyd DeLancey.[9] He previously served as fourth vice-president in 1878, second vice-president in 1879, and first vice-president from 1880 to 1881.[17]

Personal life[edit]

In 1860, Lawrence was married to Elizabeth “Eliza” Williams Miner (1838–1915).[18] Eliza was the only daughter of Dr. William Miner and Julia Caroline (née Williams) Miner. Together, Eliza and Abraham were the parents of:[5]

William Miner Lawrence (1861–1935),[8] a member of the New York State Assembly in 1891 who married Lavinia Oliver (1869–1916).[5]
Ruth Woodhull Lawrence (1866–1956),[7] who did not marry and who was a founder of the National Society of Colonial Dames in New York in 1893.[19][7]

Lawrence died at his home, 69 Washington Place in New York City, on February 14, 1917.[1] He was buried at the Lawrence Family Cemetery, on 20th Road and 35th Street, in Astoria, Queens.[20]

Descendants[edit]

Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Oliver P. Lawrence (1892–1975), a U.S. Navy veteran, Clement Lawrence, who died young, and Ruth Lawrence (1902–1992), who married Stuart M. Briggs (son of G. Loring Briggs), in 1926.[21] Ruth, who graduated from Wellesley College in 1925, was one of only five non-family members to inherit from Hetty Green, through her mentorship relationship with Green’s son, Edward Howland Robinson Green.[22]

Charles Hedges McKinstry (1866-1961) was an engineer and army officer for the United States Military. He was a descendant of William Bradford (1589-1657) , governor of the Plymouth Bay Colony.

McKinstry was born on December 19, 1866, in San Francisco, California. He attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1888, number two of forty-four in his class.

Military career
McKinstry was an instructor of engineering in West Point for the Corps of Engineers at the Engineering School of Application from 1891 to 1893.[2] On June 11, 1888, McKinstry made second lieutenant and on July 22, 1888, he was promoted to first lieutenant.[2] On October 11, 1892, McKinstry became a captain.[2] Then on July 5, 1898, he became a major.[2] After becoming a major, McKinstry went on to be in charge of defensive works and harbors improvements in Key West from 1898 to 1900.[2] From 1901 to 1903, he was at the Engineer School in Willets Point, New York, as an instructor, which included instruction in astronomy.[1] McKinstry moved on to Southern California during 1903–1906 to work on fortifications, rivers and harbors.[2] On January 1, 1906, he became a lieutenant colonel.[2] In 1909, McKinstry became chief engineer in the Philippine Island Division until 1911.[2] On February 27, 1912, he was promoted to brigadier general and then became commander of the 158th Field Artillery Brigade on August 5, 1917.[2] In 1919, McKinstry retired as a colonel.[1]

Personal life

He married
On January 10, 1920, Lillie Lawrence McKinstry, his wife, died in Miami, Florida. In 1924 he married Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury Wells, with whom he had three children. McKinstry regained his rank of brigadier general in June 1930. On November 29, 1961, McKinstry died in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 94 and just a few weeks before his 95th birthday.[1]

WRECKED 81 THE
Baron von Zedtwitz Killed
in a Collision at Royal
Albert Races.
Meteor Crashed Into His Vessel
and He Was K.locked
Overboard.
Struck on the Head by a Flying
Piece of Wood, Never Re
gained Consciousness.
CREW THROWN INTO THE WATER.
Strong Wind Was Blowing at the Time of
the Accident, and a Heavy Sea
Was Running?Postponed
Festivities.
London. Aug. 18.?The races of the Royal
Albert Regatta at Sontlisea were Inter
rupted to-day by an accident which caused
the death of Beron von Zetwitz, the
owner of the twenty-rater Isolde, and
endangered the lives of the captain and
jrew of that vessel, all of whom were
knocked overboard.
The large raters started at 10 o’clock
this morning to go over the forty-six-mile
course sailed over yesterday, and the small
raters started at 11 o’clock to sail over
the same course, but only once round?
twenty-three miles. The starters in the
big race were the Ailsa, Britannia, Meteor
and Satanita, and those in the small rater
races were The Saint, Niagara, Samp
shire, Audrey, Ptenitent and Isolde.
The big yachts had finished the first
round of the course and were just starting
upon the second round when suddenly the
boats of both classes seemed to have be
come jammed together. The Isolde, which
was sandwiched between two yachts of the
larger class, received a severe blow from
the Kaiser’s yachj: Meteor, causing her
mast to snap in two and fall overboard.
Tlirown Into tlie Sen.
The shock was a heavy one, causing the
Isolde to careen, and, as she did so, all ou
board of her were spilled Into the sea.
When Meteor struck the small yacht
there ns great crash, and blocks,, frag
ments of the broken mast and other parts
of the Isolde were sent flying In every di
rection.
As soon as the collision took place the
other yachts stopped and put out boats to
rescue the men struggling in the water.
on von Zedtwitz, the owner of the
Iso’iuv, who was on board of his yacht,
was 8 -nek on the head by a. block, or u
piece of broken mast, and knocked over
board. lie w \taken out of the water as
soon as possible and conveyed on board a
steam yacht to the clubhouse at Hyde.
Bnron von Zedtwitz was unconscious when
picked up. lie received every possible
medical attention at Ryde, but he did not
regain consciousness and died soon after
reaching the clubhouse.
A strong wind was blowing at the time
of the accident, kicking up a bad sea, and
it was raining hard. The Isolde was badly
damaged and was twoed to Portsmouth.
The bowsprit of the Meteor swept her
deck and carried away all of her gear.
Several members of the Isolde’s crew were
?picked up in an exhausted condition.
Narrow E?caj?cs of tl?<? Men.
The crew had some very narrow escapes,
but, fortunately, ail of them were rescued.
A sailor belonging to the British gunboat
Ant, which was lying at anchor near the
scene of the collision, rescued one of the
Isolde’s rnpa, who could not have survived
thirty seconds longer. The accident cast a
gloom over -everything, and the races were
abandoned for the day.
Captain Gome*, the skipper of the Meteor,
ascribes the collision of his vessel with the
Isolde to the fact (hat the Britannia did not
make way for the Meteor to pass the Isolde.
All of the clubhouses at Spithead and
I.tyde are flying flags at half mast in con
sequence of the death of the Baron. As a
yachtsman he was a ?ood sportsman and ho
was well liked in all of the English sport
ing centres. Ills wife, the Baroness von
7!odtwltz, w.is daughter of the late
Charles Roosevelt, of New York.
Festivities Postponed.
To-morrow’s yacht races and the fire
works, with which It was Intended to sig
nalize the ending of the Royil Albert Yacht
Club regatta at So’.thsea, have been post
poned until after the funeral.
Toe Isolds wan a twwtr-rater yacht.
constructed by the Hcrreshoffs at Bristol,
it. I., In 1895, for Prince Leopold of Ger
many, who afterward sold the boat to
Baron von Zedtwits.
The Meteor, which is owned by the Ger
man Emperor, is a steel cutter of 236 tons,
and was built at the Hendersons* yards, on
on the Clyde, In the early part of this year

Von Zedtwitz was born in Berlin, Germany. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Breckinridge Caldwell,[3] daughter of American businessman William Shakespeare Caldwell, one of Louisville’s first millionaires by the late 1850s,[4][5] and sister of Mary Gwendoline, Marquise des Monstiers-Mérinville.[6] His father was Baron Moritz Curt von Zedtwitz, a German diplomat who belonged to the old Zedtwitz noble family, which rose under the Electorate of Saxony. His parents were married in June 1890.[6] His father died in a boating accident on August 18, 1896,[7][4] when he was just three months old.

He was educated at Berlin and Bern, and later served in the German cavalry during World War I. He became a naturalized American citizen.[2]

He was a lexicographer and linguist.[1]

Von Zedtwitz was a keen backgammon player, winning a major tournament at age 82. He lived for 47 years in New York City before relocating to Hawaii in 1977. He died in Hawaii in 1984.[2]

He was friends with Harold Vanderbilt, the inventor of contract bridge, and became an early and enthusiastic competitor and promoter of the game, including a tour of Europe.[2]

Von Zedtwitz was 1932 president of the American Bridge League, one of the organizations whose merger established the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) in 1937. The ACBL credits him with saving it by his emergency service as president in 1948 and 1949.[8] He was a founder of the World Bridge Federation.[2]

There is an endowed Waldemar von Zedtwitz Chair at Yale university/

David Bruce Huxley and Anne Remsen Schenck

David Bruce Huxley (1915-1992) was our great grandfather.  He was born to Leonard Huxley and Rosalind Bruce in London, 21 years after his half-brother Aldous Huxley was born.  David loved his older half-siblings, but his much later birth meant some social separation from them.  He was naturally closer to his younger brother Andrew, the Nobel Prize winner.

David was educated at Christ Church at Oxford University, but any plans for using his degree were put on hold due to the outbreak of World War II.  Fortunately, he thrived in his military service. He began as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment and went to North Africa, where he fought Rommel in the desert.  According to his son, David “got blown to hell” and was sent to a hospital in Cairo, where he contracted dysentery.

At the end of his convalescence he was reassigned to Iraq for 3-4 years, where he put together a small defense force.  He loved doing the spying, according to his son, but knew they’d fall apart if the Germans arrived. He played desert polo and hunted for foxes in his down time, and established a house of leisure for the troops.  David left the Army as a Major.

After his return from the war, David gained posts in Bermuda as the solicitor general, attorney general and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court – for almost two decades. He made Bermuda attractive to US investors.  He compiled and revised the “Private and Public Acts of the Legislature of Bermuda 1620-1953,” a seven-volume work.  The 1953 West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook lists David as the Attorney General.

David Huxley with Michael

David married Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) in the Spring of 1939 in Chelsea. Anne participated in the World War II effort as an ambulance driver in London, frequently witnessing Nazi air raids, and even being injured during one.  She also contributed her services as a logistical organizer.  Family legend also contends that she was a member of the OSS, befriending and spying on Nazi officers in the early years of the war.

Anne was the daughter of Frederic Schenck (1886-1919) and Marie Civilise Alexandre (1891-1967).  Marie Civilise Alexandre was the granddaughter of the Civil War General Alexander Stewart Webb (1835-1911) through her mother Helen Lispenard Webb (1859-1929).  Therefore, General Alexander Webb is our third great-grandfather through Anne.  Our Webb family history sketch offers details.

David and Anne had the following children:

1. Angela (Huxley) Darwin.  Angela married George Pember Darwin in 1964.  The marriage of a Huxley to a Darwin – a natural selection – attracted some media attention.
2. Frederica Huxley of London
3. Virginia Huxley of Columbia, Missouri
4. Elizabeth Huxley of St. Louis, Missouri
5. Michael Huxley of Albany, New York; married Carole Corcoran.

David took a position as a vice president and legal adviser to Arnold Bernhard and Company and the Value Line Fund in New York from 1957 to 1976.  The marriage ended in divorce in 1961.

David then married Ouida Branch Wagner (1918-1998) in 1964.  They retired to England in the late 1970s, where David took on the duties of warden of his local church.  He loved the “bells and smells” of the church, according to his son.

David Bruce Huxley and Anne Remsen Schenck

David Bruce Huxley, Q.C. (1915-1992) and Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) were our great grandparents.  David was born to Leonard Huxley and Rosalind Bruce in London, 21 years after his half-brother Aldous Huxley was born.  David loved his older half-siblings, but his much later birth meant some social separation from them.  He was naturally closer to his younger brother Andrew, the Nobel Prize winner.

David was educated at Christ Church College at Oxford, and was proud of being the youngest Queen’s Counsel at the time. He also said he was the only QC to have spent a night in jail (for pinching a policeman’s helmet) He was at the Inns of Court when war broke out, then he joined the Court Regiment and thrived in his military service. He began as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment and went to North Africa, where he fought Rommel in the desert.  According to his son, David “got blown to hell”, developed vascular dysentery, and was sent to a hospital in Cairo.

David Bruce Huxley

At the end of his convalescence he was reassigned to Iraq for 3-4 years, where he put together a small defense force.  He loved doing the spying, according to his son, but knew they’d fall apart if the Germans arrived. He played desert polo and hunted for foxes in his down time, and established a house of leisure for the troops.  David left the Army as a Major.

After his return from the war, David gained appointed posts in Bermuda as the solicitor general, attorney general and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court – for a total of almost two decades. He made Bermuda attractive to US investors.  He compiled and revised the “Private and Public Acts of the Legislature of Bermuda 1620-1953,” a seven-volume work.  The 1953 West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook lists David as the Attorney General.

David married Anne Remsen Schenck (1918-1993) in the Spring of 1939 in Chelsea. Anne was the daughter of Frederic Schenck (1886-1919) and Marie Civilise Alexandre (1891-1967).

Anne also took part in the war effort, possibly serving in the OSS in the early war according to family history, and then as a London ambulance driver and social aid organizer. She wrote her mother frequently during the war, describing constant Nazi air raids and the damage it inflicted on the community.  She recounted being thrown by an explosion and injuring her nose.  But she took most of it in stride, commenting in one letter that “war becomes me.”

David and Anne had the following children:

1. Angela (Huxley) Darwin, 1940.  Angela married George Pember Darwin in 1964.  The marriage of a Huxley to a Darwin – a natural selection – attracted some media attention.
2. Frederica Huxley, 1947 of London
3. Virginia Huxley, 1952 of Columbia, Missouri
4. Elizabeth Huxley, 1957? of St. Louis, Missouri
5. Michael Huxley 1941of Albany, New York; married Carole Corcoran.

Under pressure from his wife to move to New York, David took a position as a vice president and legal adviser to Arnold Bernhard and Company and the Value Line Fund in New York from 1957 to 1976.

After his divorce from Anne, he married Ouida Branch Wagner (1918-1998) in 1964.  They retired to England in the late 1970s, where David took on the duties of warden of his local church.  He loved the “bells and smells” of the church, according to his son.

David died of heart failure on 6 September 1992 at their home in Wansford, England, according to a New York Times obituary.

David died of heart failure on 6 September 1992 at their home in Wansford, England, according to a New York Times obituary.

Frederic Schenck (1887-1919)

attended Groton

On June 30, 1917 he married Marie Civilise Alexandre.

Fred Schenck competed in individual épée for the US at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He was from Pennsylvania, but graduated from Harvard in 1909 with a cum laude degree in the history and literature of the Middle Ages. Schenck then studied at Oxford University, earning a Litt.B. degree in 1912. He returned to Harvard, earning a masters’ degree in 1914 and a Ph.D. in 1918. Schenck then became a member of the Harvard faculty, as an instructor in the Division of History, Government and Economics. While on staff he was chairman of the Committee on Degrees with Distinction in History and Literature, and secretary of the Committee on the use of English.

His daughter Anne Remsen married David Bruce Huxley.