{{Short description|American businessman (1855–1938)}} {{For|the US Representative from New York|Henry S. De Forest}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{infobox person | name = | image = | caption = | predecessor = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1855|10|29}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = 1938 | death_place = Cold Spring Harbor, New York, U.S. | education = Williston Seminary | alma_mater = Yale University<br>Columbia Law School | spouse = {{marriage|Julia Gilman Noyes|August 22, 1898}} | children = | relatives = Robert W. DeForest (brother)<br> Lockwood de Forest (brother)<br> Edie Sedgwick (granddaughter) }} '''Henry Wheeler DeForest''' (October 29, 1855 – 1938) was an American railroad executive, capitalist and industrialist.

==Early life== DeForest was born in New York City on October 29, 1855. He was a son of Henry Grant DeForest and Julia Mary (née Weeks) DeForest. Among his siblings was older brothers Lockwood DeForest, a painter and interior designer,<ref name="Glueck2001">{{cite news |last1=Glueck |first1=Grace |title=ART IN REVIEW; Lockwood de Forest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/15/arts/art-in-review-lockwood-de-forest.html |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=15 June 2001}}</ref><ref name="Kahn2014">{{cite news |last1=Kahn |first1=Eve M. |title=Renewed Interest for Lockwood de Forest's Designs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/arts/design/renewed-interest-for-lockwood-de-forests-designs.html |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=20 November 2014}}</ref> and Robert Weeks DeForest, a lawyer, financier, and philanthropist.<ref name="RWdFObit1931">{{cite news |title=ROBERT W. DE FOREST, CIVIC LEADER, DIES AFTER LONG ILLNESS; Succumbs to Weakness of Age at Washington Square Home --Family at His Bedside. HE HEADED ART MUSEUM Organized Welfare Work and Helped to Found School Here for Social Service. INTERESTS WERE VARIED Lawyer and Business Man, He Was Head of Russell Sage Foundation, and Other Welfare Agencies. Family at the Bedside. R.W. DE FOREST DIES AFTER LONG ILLNESS Member of Many Clubs. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/07/102231927.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=7 May 1931}}</ref>

DeForest paternal grandfather was Lockwood DeForest, a prominent South Street merchant and direct descendant of Jessé de Forest, of French Huguenot ancestry, whose Dutch West India Company helped to settle New Amsterdam. Through his mother, he was distantly related to Frederic Church, the Hudson River landscapist, and his maternal grandfather was Robert Doughty Weeks, the first President of the New York Stock Exchange.<ref name="Williams1884">{{cite book |last1=Williams College Class of 1859 |title=Four Years in College and Twenty-five Years Out of College |date=1884 |publisher=Smith & Bruce |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpcaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA76 |access-date=8 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Greene1900">{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Richard Henry |last2=Stiles |first2=Henry Reed |last3=Dwight |first3=Melatiah Everett |last4=Morrison |first4=George Austin |last5=Mott |first5=Hopper Striker |last6=Totten |first6=John Reynolds |last7=Pitman |first7=Harold Minot |last8=Forest |first8=Louis Effingham De |last9=Ditmas |first9=Charles Andrew |last10=Mann |first10=Conklin |last11=Maynard |first11=Arthur S. |title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record |date=1900 |publisher=New York Genealogical and Biographical Society |page=[https://archive.org/details/newyorkgenealogi1900gree/page/245 245] |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorkgenealogi1900gree |access-date=8 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

He was a graduate of Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Yale University in 1876, and Columbia Law School in 1878.<ref name="HdFObit1938"/>

==Career== After being admitted to the bar in 1878, he began practicing law with his father, brother, and uncle in New York. When that firm was dissolved in 1893, DeForest and his brother founded the firm known as DeForest Brothers. From 1925 to 1928, he was chair of the executive committee of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and chairman of its board of directors from 1929 to 1932.<ref name="HdFObit1938"/>

He assisted E.H. Harriman in the recapitalization of the Wells Fargo Express Company, and was a longtime director of the Equitable Life Assurance Company. With Elihu Root, he was the trustee of the majority of the Equitable's capital stock.<ref name="HdFObit1938"/> He also served as president of the New York Botanical Garden from January 1928 to November 1937.<ref name="HdFObit1938"/>

==Personal life== On August 22, 1898, DeForest was married to Julia Gilman Noyes (1875–1967) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Julia was the daughter of Emily Hoffman (née Gilman) Noyes and Charles Phelps Noyes, a millionaire druggist.<ref name="1898Wedding">{{cite news |title=De Forest -- Noyes. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/08/23/102526986.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=23 August 1898}}</ref> Together, they resided at 63 East 79th Street in New York, Nethermuir in Cold Spring Harbor (the former home of Chinese merchant Oliver Kimball Gordon),<ref name="Death1865">{{cite news |title=Died. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1865/07/08/78745024.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=8 July 1865}}</ref> and were the parents of:<ref name="HdFObit1938"/>

* Julia Mary DeForest (1899–1988), who married Beverley Duer (1893–1961).<ref name="Harvard1965">{{cite book |title=Harvard Alumni Directory |date=1965 |publisher=Harvard Alumni Association |page=410 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAVPAAAAYAAJ |access-date=8 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref> * Henry Wheeler DeForest Jr. (1901–1913), who died of a brain tumor in 1913. * Charles Noyes DeForest (1905–1929), a Yale graduate who died in Palermo, Italy during a trip around the world.<ref name="CNdFObit1929">{{cite news |title=CHARLES N. DE FOREST Son of Lawyer and Capitalist Dies in Palermo, Sicily |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/12/20/97786372.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=20 December 1929}}</ref> * Alice Delano DeForest (1908–1988), who married Francis Minturn Sedgwick (1904–1967), son of Henry Dwight Sedgwick, in 1929.<ref name="1928Engagement">{{cite news |title=MISS A. DE FOREST ENGAGED TO MARRY; Lawyer's Daughter to Wed Francis M. Sedgwick, Harvard Graduate, Son of Author. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/11/03/95644911.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=3 November 1928}}</ref><ref name="1929Wedding">{{cite news |title=OLD FAMILIES SEE MISS DE FOREST WED; Younger Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. de Forest Marries Francis M. Sedgwick. CEREMONY IN GRACE CHURCH Rev. Dr. Peabody Officiates--Bridal Party Passes Through a Lane of White and Green. Ushers Lead Bridal Procession. Costumes of Bridesmaids. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/05/09/95946457.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=9 May 1929}}</ref>

DeForest died at his county home, Nethermuir, in Cold Spring Harbor on 1938.<ref name="HdFObit1938">{{cite news |title=HENRY DE FOREST, LAWYER, DIES AT 82; Leader in Financial and Rail Circles Many Years Also Noted Philanthropist |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/05/29/96821691.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=29 May 1938}}</ref> He was buried at Memorial Cemetery of Saint John's Church in Laurel Hollow, New York on Long Island.

===Descendants=== Through his daughter Alice, he is the grandfather of Andy Warhol's muse Edie Sedgwick.<ref name="ESObit1971">{{cite news |title=Edie Sedgwick, Warhol Star, 28 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/11/23/79407389.pdf |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=23 November 1971}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *{{find a Grave|139737947|Henry Wheeler DeForest}}

{{S-start}} {{s-bus}} {{Succession box | before = Julius Kruttschnitt | title = Chairman of the Southern Pacific<br>Railroad Executive Committee | years = 1925&ndash;1928 | after = Hale Holden |}} {{Succession box | before = ''None'' | title = Chairman of the Southern Pacific<br>Railroad Board of Directors | years = 1929&ndash;1932 | after = Hale Holden |}} {{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deforest, Henry}} Category:1855 births Category:1938 deaths Category:Williston Northampton School alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:20th-century American business executives in rail transportation Category:Southern Pacific Railroad people Category:19th-century American businesspeople Henry