Robert Livingston
Beeckman
Male
United States of America
1866-04-15
New York, United States of America
1935-01-21
Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
Adapted slightly from Wikipedia: Robert Livingston Beeckman - Wikipedia
Robert Livingston Beeckman was an American stockbroker, sportsman, and politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Rhode Island. Beeckman was born on April 15, 1866, in New York City, New York. He was the son of Gilbert Livingston Beeckman and Margaret Atherton (née Foster) Beeckman.
His sister, Katherine Livingston Beeckman, was married to Louis Lasher Lorillard, the son of Pierre Lorillard III, and another sister, Martha Beeckman, was married to New York banker Amos Tuck French. His family ancestry can be traced back to Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam dating to 1654. His ancestors include Robert Livingston the Elder, Declaration signer Philip Livingston and “The Chancellor” Robert Livingston.
His family owned the financial firm Lapsley Beeckman & Co. When Beeckman was young, his family moved to Newport, Rhode Island. He left school at the age of sixteen to become a stockbroker and began his career at a stock brokerage firm in New York. At age 21, Beeckman became one of the youngest ever members of the New York Stock Exchange, being a member from 1887 until 1906.
By 1916, he had retired from the brokerage business. After this time, he was a member of the board of directors of several corporations, including the Industrial Trust Company, the Newport Trust Company, the International Silver Company, and the Newport Casino.
Beeckman was also a prominent polo player and lawn tennis player. In 1886, he played in the men’s singles final at the U.S. Championships, which took place in Newport. He lost to the defending champion, Richard Sears; the score was 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
Beeckman’s first political office was in the General Assembly from 1908 to 1912, as Rhode Island state Representative from Newport. At the time, Beeckman said that he was entering active politics “because he believed it to be his duty. He felt the time had come for the step, which he had weighed carefully before accepting the responsibilities the office would incur”.
He was a state Senator from 1912 to 1914 until his election as the governor of Rhode Island in the latter year. He held the office for three terms, from January 5, 1915, to January 4, 1921. During his administration, Beeckman pushed for reforms in State institutions including hospitals, prisons and insane asylums, established an inheritance tax, and established a state Parole Board. He also advocated for removing the property qualification for Rhode Island voters.
Beeckman was governor during the First World War. In formally greeting Marshall Joffre in Boston alongside other New England governors, Beeckman “expressed the hope that France might find in American the same comfort and help that this country [the United States] found in France in the dark days of the Revolution”. He visited Rhode Island troops on the battlefield in France and pushed for state appropriations to provide for dependent families of servicemen.
Beeckman was also governor during the Spanish flu pandemic, which struck the state in early September 1918. Acting on the advice of superintendent of health Charles V. Chapin, Beeckman delayed issuing a closure order until October 6. The peak of the pandemic occurred October 3-9, with over 6,700 cases reported. Beeckman lifted the closure order on October 25. A second, smaller wave hit Rhode Island schools in January, and the flu was declared eradicated in Rhode Island in February 1919.
A close friend of then Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, Beeckman was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in 1920, but ultimately Calvin Coolidge was selected and became president upon Harding’s death in 1923. After stepping down from the governorship, he unsuccessfully ran in 1922 to represent Rhode Island in the United States Senate, losing to the incumbent Democratic senator, Peter Goelet Gerry.
During the campaign, it was alleged that Beeckman and his campaign manager, J. Henry Reuter, attempted to bribe Hervé J. Lagace with $1,500. Beeckman admitted to the payment, but “insist[ed] that it was their understanding that Lagace had agreed to work for Beeckman and that the money paid to him was to be used for legitimate expenses of the campaign”.
In 1902, Beeckman was married first to Eleanor Thomas of Zanesville, Ohio. She was the daughter of General Samuel Russell Thomas and Ann Augusta (née Porter) Thomas and the sister of Edward Russell Thomas. Upon her father’s death in 1903, she inherited the income from half of his $10,000,000 estate.
After his first wife’s death in 1920, Beeckman remarried, to Edna (née Marston) Burke at Bar Harbor, Maine, in September 1923. A divorcée, she was the daughter of Edwin Sprague Marston, the former president and chairman of the board of directors of the Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company (predecessor firm of Citigroup), and Emma Bennett (née Doty) Marston. Beeckman had no children. He was an active member of the Freemasons.
Robert Livingston Beeckman died of a heart attack on January 21, 1935, at his winter home in Santa Barbara, California. He was interred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York. After his death, his widow remarried to Archibald Gourley Thacher in 1937.
1884 - 1890
13
64
51
1888 - Bar Harbor Club (Open)
1887 - Middle States Championships (Amateur)
1887 - Elberon (Amateur)
1887 - Bar Harbor Club (Open)
1886 - Middle States Championships (Amateur)
1886 - Lenox Tournament (Amateur)
1886 - Young America Cricket Club Invitation (Amateur)
1886 - Far and Near LTC Open Tournament (Amateur)
1886 - Orange Spring Tournament (Amateur)
1886 - St. George's Cricket Club (Amateur)
1885 - Far and Near LTC Open Tournament (Amateur)
1885 - Orange Spring Tournament (Amateur)
1885 - Westchester (Open)
Poule
Howard Augustus Taylor 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
7-5
6-4
Challenge Round
Joseph Sill Clark 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
?
Challenge Round
Edward Peale MacMullen 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-0
6-4
0-6
8-6
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Charles Edward Sands
6-3
5-6
6-3
Final
Oliver Samuel Campbell 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-8
6-3
6-4
5-7
6-3
Challenge Round
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Morton Spring Paton
6-1
6-1
6-3
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Mantle Fielding jr.
6-4
6-4
6-0
Round 2
Henry Warner Slocum Jr. 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-2
4-6
8-6
6-3
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H.M. Peters
6-2
6-0
6-0
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Samuel A. Campbell Jr.
6-0
6-3
6-1
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
6-4
3-6
6-1
6-2
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Howard Augustus Taylor
6-3
8-6
6-4
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Carman Randolph Runyon
6-1
6-2
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Valentine Gill Hall III
5-6
6-3
6-4
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Richard W. Stevens
6-2
6-0
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Howard Augustus Taylor
4-6
3-6
7-5
6-3
6-1
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Mr. Miller
6-0
6-0
6-1
Round 3
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Herbert Mason Sears
6-2
6-0
6-0
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Fred Mansfield
6-4
3-6
6-0
6-3
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Charles Amherst Chase
6-4
6-0
6-2
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Howard Augustus Taylor
2-6
6-3
6-4
6-2
Challenge Round
Richard Dudley Sears 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
4-6
6-1
6-3
6-4
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Edward Peale MacMullen
6-0
6-4
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H.W. Bucknall
6-4
5-6
6-5
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
2-6
6-4
6-1
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
William Edward Glyn
1-6
8-6
6-2
6-8
6-1
Poule
Howard Augustus Taylor 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-5
1-6
6-4
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Herbert Mason Sears
6-1
6-4
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H. Ripley
6-1
6-5
Poule
Henry Warner Slocum Jr. 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
3-6
6-4
6-4
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Philip Shelton Sears
6-2
6-5
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Godfrey Malbone Brinley
3-6
6-4
9-7
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
S.V.R. Thayer
6-1
6-0
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H. Kuhn
6-1
6-2
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Harry Farnum
6-4
6-2
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
bye
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
6-2
6-3
2-6
6-1
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
?
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Oliver Samuel Campbell
6-2
6-5
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Russell R. Perkins
6-1
6-3
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
6-4
6-5
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H.W. Bucknall
?
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Charles Belmont Davis
6-2
6-1
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
H.V. Berry
6-1
6-5
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
6-5
6-4
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
William Edward Glyn
6-2
6-0
6-4
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
William Austin Tomes
6-0
6-0
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Morton Spring Paton
6-2
6-4
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
A.H. Larkin
6-4
6-3
Final
Henry Warner Slocum Jr. 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-1
8-6
6-4
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Joseph Sill Clark
?
Poule
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
?
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
G.Arthur Smith
6-1
6-2
Round 2
Joseph Sill Clark 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-2
1-6
8-6
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
J.S. Wood
6-0
6-1
Quarterfinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
E. Spinnet
6-1
6-4
Semifinals
Howard Augustus Taylor 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
4-6
6-3
6-3
Semifinals
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Walter Van Rensselaer Berry
6-2
6-3
Final
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Henry Warner Slocum Jr.
6-3
6-3
8-6
Round 1
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
Morgan Gibbes Post
6-3
6-2
Round 2
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
S. H. Hooper
6-5
6-4
Round 3
Robert Livingston Beeckman 1 *
P. Willis
1-6
6-5
6-2
Quarterfinals
Wallace Percy Knapp 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
6-1
6-2
Round 2
Foxhall Parker Keene 1 *
Robert Livingston Beeckman
4-6
6-5
6-2