Henry Casimir de Rham

Henry Casimir de Rham (15 July 1785 – October 1873) was a Swiss–American merchant and diplomat.

Picture of de Rham sitting and reading a book, c. 1864.[1]

Early life

Henry Casimir de Rham was born on 15 July 1785 in Giez, Switzerland.[2] He was a son of Johann Christoph Wilhelm de Rham of Braunschweig, Saxony, Germany and the former Anne (née Kinloch) de Rham (1742–1813). His elder brother was Jacques de Rham, who married Adélaïde Doxat whose family owned the Château de Champvent.[3] His maternal grandfather was Sir James Kinloch, Bt. of Scotland.[4]

He attended the military school in Munich, Bavaria.[3]

Career

In 1803 he had opened a business in New York.[5] After the War of 1812 he entered business relationship with Isaac Iselin Roulet.[5] After his 1815 marriage, two of his wife's brothers became partners in the business known as de Rham, Iselin & Moore (later known as de Rham & Moore, but at the time of his death as de Rham & Company).[6]

In July 1822 de Rham was appointed to be one of the first two Swiss consuls to the United States[3] by the Federal Diet of Switzerland. He assumed responsibility for a district encompassing the New England states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the states north of the Ohio River.[7] In 1842, de Rham retired from his office as the Swiss consul.[6] In his later life he was an avid Whist player and joined a Whist club.[6]

Personal life

In 1815, de Rham married Maria Theresa Moore (1784–1855), a daughter of Jane (née Fish) Moore and Dr. William Moore (a brother of Bishop Benjamin Moore).[8] Together, they had four children, including:[9]

He died in October 1873 in New York City. He was interred alongside his wife at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.[2]

Descendants

Through his son Charles, he was a grandfather of Elise De Rham (1850–1879), who married John Jay Pierrepont; Charles de Rham (1854–1933), who married Emily Hone Foster; Henry Casimir de Rham (1855–1916),[12] who married Anna Tayloe Warren and Georgina Louise Berryman; and William de Rham (1857–1881).[13]

References