New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1910-01-19
YMoMBLY's LOVE OF BEAUTY
How Late Millionaire Banker Showed
Ii at His Country Estate.

How Late Millionaire Banker Showed
II at His Country Estate.
Hamilton McKown Twombly, mil
lionaire banker Of New York and
brother-in-law Of William K. Wander
bilt, who died recently at his country
home, Florham Park, at Madison, n.
J., was born in Boston and received
his schooling there He went to Har-
ward and was graduated with the
class of 1871
For a great many years Mr.. Twom- |
bly,, who was director of many COM
panies, took a lively part in the affairs
of both business and society. He put |
a great deal Of his energy and his love
of the beautiful into his estate at
Madison, with it's model farm. He
/, had several children, the oldest of
whom, a girl, died at the age of six
teen, fourteen years ago; Florence.
who married William A. NJ Burden in
| 1904; Ruth, who made her debut three
years ago, and son, who is named
/ for himself. 1t was largely to give
| these children an outdoor life that he
designed the place, but the farm he
planned chiefly for the interest of his
boy.
Florham covers almost 400 acres. 1t
is a great park, laid out in gardens,
dotted with hundreds Of specially
transplanted trees and crossed in all
directions by stone ballasted avenues.
The house, standing at the head of
gracefully terraced lawn, resembles
closely Hatfield House in England,
the home Of Lord Salisbury. The
farm, it's stables and spotless dairy,
brought in at one time from the sale Of
its milk alone an average Of $4,000
: year. The milk came from herd Of
Guernseys, the first of them imported
among which are many ribbon Win
ners. The milk, it is said, was ped
died from a $1,000 wagon, drawn by
pair Of thoroughbreds, worth 1900,
in gold mounted harness. The farm
wagons, too, were drawn by thorough
breds.
From his flowers-he specialized in
orchids and chrysanthemums - there
| came yearly some $4,000. All of them
{ were raised in the most scientific way
in elaborate greenhouses, of which the
most notable was the palm house,
: standing siXty-four feet above the
l ground and topped by a mammoth
l dome.
: But Mr.. Twombly lost interest in
: these things, and in his business, too,
in the summer Of 1906, when the thing
= happened which is largely accountable
: for his death. His only son was spend
ing few months at Big Squam lake,
= near Ashland, N. II. He was eighteen
: years old, had just been graduated
l from Groton school and had elected to
l spend his4last vacation before entering
Harvard in helping to run the camp
? managed there by Groton boys. On
July the boys started to swim to
l earns grove, mile distant from
2 camp. He had gone but a few hundred
< yards when he sank. No one coulG
} reach him in time to help him.
The news of the boys death was g
great shock. The fathers friends say
2 he never recovered from it at all. A
: all events, it was not for year or two
: that he returned to Madison, the place
l so closely associated with his children
l and when he did it was not with the
E old interest About that time, too, ht
t began gradually to withdraw from the
5 active business enterprises in which hi:
great fortune had interested him.
: Mr.. Twombly was a stickler for de
: tails. For one thing, he could not beal
f to be late at any engagement. 1t i
4 related of him that once in the sum
: mer of 1905 to keep dinner engage
ment at Newport he chartered a spe
q cial train in Springfield, Mass, mad
i the 100 miles intervening between Their
: and Boston in 103 minutes and easil,
i caught the train he had to take from
there to Newport.