page_title: Francis Skiddy von Stade Sr.
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Francis Skiddy von Stade Sr. / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Francis Skiddy, steamboat.
context_page_description: Francis Skiddy von Stade Sr. was a champion polo player and the president of the Saratoga Association from 1943 to 1955.
context_section_description: Von Stade was born in New York, New York on September 4, 1884. He was the son of Frederick Hebbert von Stade (1858–1934) and Frances Sarah (née Fischer) von Stade (1859–1888).  He received the name "Skiddy" from his maternal grandfather, Francis Skiddy, whose name was also on a Hudson River steamship that Currier & Ives memorably sketched.
  Von Stade attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire before Harvard University, where he graduated in 1907 before spending a year at Harvard Law School.  At Harvard, he was the captain of the hockey team.
caption: Sketch of the Francis Skiddy steamboat by Samuel Ward Stanton, c. 1895
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