60. William Torrey
(2)(31)
was born on May 6 1798 in New York City. He died on Jun 15 1891 in Manchester,
New Jersey. William Torrey was probably born in one of the two houses owned
by his grandmother Margaret Thompson Nichols on Broadway between Leonard and
Franklin Streets. As a boy he played in the as-yet-unfinished City Hall and was
taken by his father, a city alderman, for a ride on Robert Fulton's Clermont
in 1807, the year the first economically practical steamboat was built. He wrote
"Reminiscences of an Old Man" about his youth in New York City "when
all above Grand Street was country." It appeared in Adam's Magazine, Vol.
2, No. 6, in 1892, the year after his death.
He spent most of his adult life developing real estate in New York City and New
Jersey. In New York he built the first London Terrace on West 23rd Street, on
the site of the present London Terrace complex. A picture of the first one can
be seen in the book Lost New York.
In New Jersey, he was the principal developer of Lakehurst, the land of which
had been given to Adeline Torrey by her father as a wedding present, and of the
surrounding town of Manchester. The Torrey family owned thousands of acres in
that area, built a railroad, brick kilns, a general store, and other facilities.
His contributions to early Manchester are detailed in the book Early Manchester
and William Torrey by William S. Dewey, privately printed by the Manchester Publishing
Company in 1982. There is a photograph of a portrait of him painted as a young
man in that book.
The marriage of William and Adeline Torrey lasted just six months less than seventy
years. A library table, bought by Adeline Torrey, probably at the time of her
marriage, is in the possession of John Steele Gordon. Made of mahogany with drop
leaves and a pineapple pedestal base with four legs, it is a splendid example
of the New York style of the period.
He was married to Adeline Whittemore on Apr 18 1821 in New York City.
61. Adeline Whittemore
(31) was born on Jan 14 1799 in New York City. She died on Oct 10
1890 in Manchester, New Jersey. Children were:
i. Jane
Torrey was born on Jan 28 1822. She died on Mar 9 1856.
30 ii.
Samuel Whittemore Torrey.
iii.
Margaret Torrey was born on Jun 11 1824. She died on Aug 9 1824.
iv.
William Torrey was born on Feb 9 1827. He died on Oct 20 1910.
v. Adeline
Torrey was born on Jan 25 1829. She died on Jan 13 1893.
vi.
Theodore Torrey was born on Feb 23 1831. He died on Jan 7 1891.
vii.
John Torrey was born on Apr 6 1832. He died on Apr 20 1914.
viii.
Legh Torrey was born on Jul 9 1834. He died on Dec 9 1852.
ix.
Mary Torrey was born on Dec 10 1827 in New York City.
x. Anna
Torrey was born on Jan 25 1840. She died on Mar 21 1840.
xi.
Lewis Torrey was born on Nov 18 1843. He died on Mar 15 1844.