Effingham Embree (1759=1817) was the husband of the 4th great grand aunt (Mary Lawrence, 1763-1831) of my wife. He was probably named after his uncle, Effingham Lawrence. The Embrees continued to bestow the name of Effingham on their children down to the present day.

The Businessman

He was a clockmaker, businessman, and land speculator in New York.

He was born in Flushing, but moved to Manhattan to learn the clock making trade.. By 1781 Effingham and Thomas Pearsall were conducting a watch making business together. By 1789 Effingham was in business for himself, making clocks and watches and selling jewelry from his shop at 185 Pearl Street (named Queen Street during the British occupation).

It would be more accurate to call Effingham a clock assembler rather than a maker. Like others in the trade, he purchased parts locally and from England and assembled them in a way to guarantee the accuracy of the movements. Some wooden cases were made locally, others imported. But his name engraved on the dial indicate that he had assembled the clock and guaranteed its accuracy.

Pearsall and Embree clock

A Pearsall and Embree clock

White House Embree

 Effingham Embree tall clock in Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House

It was presented in 1976 as as the Bicentennial gift of the Society of Colonial Dames.

Effingham Embree Clock

Another Effingham Embree tall clock

Effingham watch

An Effingham Embree watch with his name engraved on it

Effingham signature

A receipt with his signature

Effingham engaged in land speculation. He owned large tracts of unimproved land in New York, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Closer to home he bought, divided, and sold land in Manhattan. His deals in 1785 involved the equivalent of about $600,000 in 2015 dollars. He also loaned money. Lawsuits for unpaid loans indicate the scale of his transactions: one was for $200,000 in 2015 dollars.

Effingham invested in the Tontine Coffee House, which provided a home for the fledgling New York Stock Exchange.

Tontine Coffee House with flag on left

Tontine Coffee House: building on left with flag

The Citizen

Although a Quaker, when he was 16, in 1775, Effingham joined Captain Egbert’s company. He was a member of the St. Tammany society. The members put on war paint and feathers to parade and to feast on various patriotic holidays. It evolved into Tammany Hall.

St. Tammany

The Legendary St. Tammany

Effingham was one of the first members of the Society for the Manumission of Slaves; John Jay was the first president. The Society was for gradual abolition. It also maintained a registry of free blacks to protect against kidnapping and re-enslavement. The Society persuaded the government of New York to forbid the export and import of slaves, but slavery was not abolished completely until July 4, 1827  In 1786 the Society stared a free school for African boys, Effingham was a trustee.

Manumission

John Jay, Governor Clinton, and Effingham , and about half of the members of the society owned slaves. Slaves could not be freed unless the State agreed that they were able to support themselves, so owners had to continue to own and support slaves, even as they worked for the full abolition of slavery.

The Marriage

Effingham and Mary were first cousins. Both families were Quakers, and the Quakers frowned upon marriages between such close relatives.  Nonetheless Effingham and Mary married in December 1780 when New York was still under British occupation .

The Women’s Minutes of the Flushing Monthly meeting was held on February 7, 1781 decided:

Wheras Mary Embree (late Lawrence) was Educated in the Profession of Truth, which would if attended to preserve us in a Steady Uniform Conduct, hath so far deviated therefrom, & the Principals there of us to Marry he First Cousin, which Marriage was Accomplished by a Priest, which practices we Testify against & disown that said Mary Embree from being a Member of our Religious Society until from a Sense of her Misconduct she Condemns the same to the Satisfaction of the Meeting.

(The “priest” was a clergyman of some other denomination; the Quakers have no clergy.)

Effingham demonstrated repentance and joined the Flushing meeting in 1797; Mary waited until 1815 to apply, and then it was not to the Flushing but to the New York Meeting, although she was living in Flushing.

Flushing Meeting house

Flushing Meeting House, built 1694

In 1796 Effingham gave up his shop and moved back to the Flushing farm. He died of consumption, that is, tuberculosis, on December 3, 1817.

(Many thanks to his descendent, Mary Ellen Embree LeBien, and her book Embree Remembered [2002])

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