In 1892, the New York Tribune published a nationwide list of more than 4,000 millionaires. Adjusted for inflation, $1 million in 1890 is roughly equivalent to $35 million today, so those included in the Tribune’s list were multimillionaires. Nearly 1,500 millionaires lived in New York City, many of whom owned large estates in Westchester County where they could escape on weekends and vacations.
Among those millionaires was Charles J, Osborn, who had accumulated his wealth through his successful investment career. He and his wife, Miriam, built a home on Long Island Sound in the Rye Neck section of Mamaroneck, designed by Stanford White of the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. In 1885, Charles Osborn died and never had a chance to enjoy his castle on the Sound, which is now owned by the Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club.
Miriam Osborn also inherited a palatial Fifth Avenue mansion and an estate estimated in the millions. At her death, The New York Times reported that her will left “about one million dollars to endow a home for aged gentlewomen of refinement who have become impoverished.”
Miriam’s lawyer and advisor was John W. Sterling, who co-founded the eminent Wall Street law firm Shearman & Sterling, which represented major railroad, industrial, and banking interests (including Standard Oil). As executor and trustee under her will, Sterling created the charitable trust that became the Miriam Osborn Home Association and oversaw the endowment.
The introduction to the centennial history of The Osborn begins: “In 1908, one woman’s dream that had become one man’s passion became a reality when the Miriam Osborn Memorial Home opened.”
According to The Osborn’s historical documents, Mrs. Osborn “saw the tragedy of the destitute single woman and the widow in the 1880s when there were no pensions or organized support whatever except for the few voluntary homes for the aging. Mrs. Osborn knew the great fear gentlewomen had of untimely death or illness leaving them without support unless relatives or friends were able to provide a home.”
While continuing as the sole managing partner of his law firm, Sterling devoted countless hours to planning and acquiring land for the Osborn Home and its spacious grounds on what was known as Theall’s Hill, the highest property in Rye. Much of the property was farmland that had belonged to some of the oldest Rye families, including the Thealls, Purdys, and Meads.
A 1910 map of the Village of Rye shows numerous parcels of land, aggregating more than 200 acres, held in the name of John W. Sterling between what is now Osborn Road and North Street. These included the nearby Mead Pond, which was named Lake Miriam for a while. The properties extended east to Old Post Road and west across the current Theodore Fremd Avenue.
To the west of the railroad tracks there was a 37-acre parcel adjoining Greenwood Union Cemetery. As noted in the centennial history, “John Sterling thought that the hillside west of the railroad was perfect for the dairy he planned. Beaver Swamp Brook, which flowed through it, had sufficient water for eight Guernsey cows, seven calves, and the award-winning Holstein bull he purchased.”
On his death in 1918, Sterling, a lifelong bachelor, left an estate valued at more than $20 million, most of which went to Yale, his alma mater (class of 1864). At the time, it was the largest sum ever donated to an institution of higher learning (equivalent to about $325 million in current dollars).
Also included in his will was a bequest of $1.5 million to the Miriam Osborn Memorial Home Association plus another $100,000, which he said was the amount Mrs. Osborn had bequeathed to him in a handwritten codicil to her will.
To those gifts were added funds to build a wing in memory of his mother, Catherine Sterling, as well as 25 acres in Rye and 32 acres in Harrison. It is fitting that among the newer additions to The Osborn’s campus are the apartments and garden homes for independent living within what is called Sterling Park.
