New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-06
GEORGE {. BOLDT
DIES SUDDENLY
Proprietor of Waldorf and
Hotel Leader Victim of
Heart Trouble
HIS LIFE HISTORY
A PAGE OF ROMANCE
From Penniless Bus Boy
He Became Owner of
Great HOStlerieS


George c. Boldt, proprietor OF the
Waldorf-Astoria, in this city, and the
-Stratford, in Philadelphia,
died yesterday. For the last week he
had not been well, and had remained
in his apartments in the hotel. Yet
none suspected that his seemingly tire
less energy, which won for him the IL
tic of the greatest hotel man in Amer
lea, had brought the end near.
Mr.. Boldt died at 6 o'clock yesterday
morning. The sudden clothing OF
blood in the vessels of the heart was
the direct cause. Overwork was the
underlying reason. Five minutes be-
fore he died DR.. Alexander Lambert
his physician, said his pulse was nor
NAL. His last words were message
Of love to one Of his grandchildren.
Mr.. Boldt was sxty-fve years old
Funeral services for the immediate
family and close personal friends
will be held in his private apart
ments in the Waldorf at 1880 o'clock
tomorrow morning. Public services
in St. Thomas's Church, Fifty-third
Street and Fifth Avenue, conducted
by the Rev. Or. Ernest VI. Stires, the
rector, will follow Immediately. Burial
will be in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Among the pall-bearers will be FL
bert H. Gary, Judge Frank H. Hiscock4'
of the Court Of Appeals; George +
Baker, president of the First National
Bank; Charles NJ. Schwsb, Jacob
Gould Schurmsn,' president Of Cornell
University; Stuyvesant Fish, Seymour
Van Santvoord. Seward Prosser, T. Do
Witt Cuyler, DR.. Graeme ". Hammond.
+. l.. LafrentZ, Francis II. Hutchins and
T. A. Gillespie.
His Life a Romance
The history OF Mr.. Boldt's life is
page in American romance. Born April
%, 1851, on the island of Rugen, in
the Baltic Sea, of peasant parents, Mr..
Boldt came to America when thirteen
years old to make his fortune. His
father was a merchant in a small way
and had given him, for his years, an
excellent education.
The young immigrants first job was
in New Yorka bus boy in a hotel.
For several years he worked hard and
saved his money. Then, with financial
assistance from his father, he went TO
Texas and established a chicken farm.
It was a failure and he lost every cent
he had.
Penniless, the young man returned
to the North, taking place at small
wages in a little hotel at Cornwall-on-
Hudson. For a year or moro he
worked there, improving the efficiency
of every department which came under
his guidance, but when he asked for an
increase in pay it was refused. Mr..
Boldt gave up his job along with the
wages due him and went to Philadel-
phia.
His dream Of great hotel began
then. and from that time until the final
opening of the Waldorf, on March IA,
1898, Mr. Boldt laid his plans deliber-
ately. He knew that to start such
hotel as ne had in mind demanded
great capital, and he felt that the next
step toward the fruition of his plans
was the acquaintance of prominent
men.
Steward OF the Clover Club
Mr.. Boldt obtained a position with
the Clover Club, of Philadelphia, and
as steward formed the acquaintance of
men OF wealth and influence. They
liked him and the dinners he served, so
that in few years he had little diff
Guilty in getting financial support when
he wished to take over the management
of the Bellevue. That hotel was sue
cess from the start.
The next step was the building OF
the Waldorf. Had it not been for Mr.,
Boldt's unselhshness in giving up his
rooms at seaside hotel which he
owned to Mr. Twombley, a relative Of
William Waldorf Aston, the Waldorf
might never have been built. IL was
Mr.. Twombly who was instrumental in
persuading William Waldorf Aston to
bring into reality Mr.. Boldt's long
cherished dream.
Other hotel men scoffed at "Boldt's
Folly" as the Waldorf was called. II
was a success from the beginning and
il brought wealth TO Mr. Boldt
Mr.. Boldt's activities were numerous.
In addition to being president of the
Waldorf Astoria Company and owner of
the Bellevue-S tratford, he was Vice
president and director of the Apolli-
naris Agency Company, director OF the
Commonwealth Trust Company, trustee
md acting chairman of the board Of
trustees Of Cornell University, presi-
dent Of the Holland Library, Of Alex
andria Bay; director of the Lincoln
Trust Company, director Of the North
British and Mercantile Insurance Com.
pany, Of New York, Edinburgh and
London; president Of the St. Lawrence
River Real Estate Association. director
of the Waldorf-Astor Segar Company,
Limited; president and director of the
Waldorf Importation Company. trustee
of the Hospital Saturday and Sunday
Association, trustee of the Equitable
Life Assurance Society, and president
of the Thousand Islands Country Club.
Benefactor OF Cornell
In the latter years OF his life Cornell
University, OF which his son, George
c. Boldt. jr.. was a graduate, had been.
one Of Mr. Boldt's chief interests. He
gave to the university 100000, and
raised for it more than any other one
man. The flag of the Cornell Club. at
65 Park Avenue, was at halfstaf yes
terdsy in respect to him, as were the
aags on the Waldorf and many other
hotels and Fifth Avenue shops.
Mr.. Boldt was member OF the
American Fine Arts Society and the
Metropolitan Museum Of Art. A year
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