Hon. Woodbury Langdon Biography from History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by MLM, Volunteer 0000130. For the current email address, please go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000130 Copyright. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************ Full copyright notice - http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm USGenWeb Archives - http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ Surname: LANGDON Source: History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915 Page 772 HON. WOODBURY LANGDON, eldest child of Woodbury and Frances (Cutler) Langdon, was born in Portsmouth, N. H., October 22, 1836. He comes from an old and noted New England family, being a descendant in the sixth generation of Woodbury Langdon, who was a brother of Gov. John Langdon, fuller mention of whom may be found elsewhere in this volume. Many members of the family since its early settlement in this country have been men of mark and substance, and it may be said in general that all have reflected credit on its name. Espe- cially is thus true with respect to mercantile affairs, in which the sub- ject of this sketch follows ancestral traditions. After receiving a good education he entered the employ of Froth- ingham & Company of Boston, a well known dry goods commission house, and so rapidly made his way in the confidence of his employers that in 1863 he went to New York City to take charge of the branch house of the firm. He continued to reside in New York until 1911; when he returned to Portsmouth, N. H. In 1868 he became a partner in the firm of Frothingham & Company, and upon the death of the senior partner in 1870 the style of Joy, Langdon & Company, which still con- Page 773 tinues, was adopted. As the head of this New York house, Mr. Lang- don represents one of the largest dry goods commission businesses in the United States. He is also an officer of notable financial institutions. He is a director of two of the great banks of New York-the Central Na- tional Bank and the National Bank of Commerce; president and director of the Cannelton Coal Company; director of the New York Life Insur- ance Company, the German American Fire Insurance Company and the German Alliance Insurance Company; trustee of the Greenwich Savings Bank, the New York Security and Trust Company and the Title Guaran- tee and Trust Company. For many years a prominent member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, since 1888 he has been a member of its executive committee, and was for three years its vice president. In association with the late C. B. Potter, the late William Steinway, John H. Starin and August Belmont, Mr. Langdon was appointed by the mayor in 1890 a member of the board of rapid transit commission- ers of the city and county of New York, and on November 19, 1896, was appointed by Mayor Strong to succeed Seth Low on the new board of rapid transit commissioners, organized under the laws of 1894. Munici- pal construction of a rapid transit system for the metropolis having been decided on by popular vote at the election of November 6, 1894, the new board thus created was charged with the responsibility of selecting the route, arranging the conditions and details, and awarding the con- tract. The great underground railway system now in operation, with further ramifications in progress, is the outcome of the board's delib- erations. In addition to his service to the city of New York as a rapid transit commissioner, Mr. Langdon has been one of the most conspicuous and effective advocates of non-partisan municipal government. Following the exposure of corruption in city affairs through the investigation of the Lexow committee. He was one of the signers of the original call for the meeting at Madison Square Garden, September 6, 1894. This call was to consider "the wisdom and practicability of taking advantage of the present state of public feeling to organize a citizens' movement for the government of the city of New York entirely outside of party and solely in the interests of efficiency, economy, and the public health, com- fort and safety." Mr. Langdon was one of the historic committee of seventy appointed by the meeting, which nominated Col. William L. Strong for mayor and directed the famous and successful reform cam- paign of 1894. In national politics he is an advocate of the principles of the Republican party. He is a leading member of the Union League Club of New York, has served upon its most important committees, and has been its vice president by annual re-election since 1889. One of the principal founders of the Merchants' Club of New York City, he was its president in 1888-89, two years in this office being the constitutional limit. He is now a member of its board of directors. Of the New Eng- land Society of New York, of which he is also a director, he has been a member since 1865. He is likewise a member of the Lawyers', City Riding and New York Athletic Clubs, the American Geographical So- ciety, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Langdon was first married March 1, 1894, to Edith Eustis Pugh. She died in January, 1895, and he married for his second wife, in Septem- ber, 1896, Elizabeth Langdon Elwyn, a descendant of Gov. John Lang- Page 774 don of New Hampshire. Her line of descent is as follows: I. Tobias Langdon. II. Captain Tobias Langdon. III. John Langdon. IV. Hon. John Langdon, United States senator, president pro tempore of the United States Senate, governor of New Hampshire, etc. V. Elizabeth Langdon, only child of Hon. John Langdon, married Thomas Elwyn, of Centerbury , England. VI. Alfred William Elwyn, married Mary Middleton Mease. VII. Alfred Langdon Elwyn, married Helen Maria, daughter of Rev. Heman Dyer. VIII. Elizabeth Langdon Elwyn, mar- ried Woodbury Langdon. Mr. Langdon is now spending his declining years in the old Governor Langdon house, Portsmouth. This fine old residence, dating back to the beginning of the Revolutionary period, is kept in excellent condition by him, and possesses a rare historical interest that is national in its scope. In it the citizens of Portsmouth take no little pride, and few visiting strangers go away without taking the time to gaze upon this stately and venerable structure, whose age exceeds that of the Nation itself.