THE APTHORP FAMILY OF BOSTON.
Charles Apthorp was born in England in 1698 and was educated at Eton. He was the son of John Apthorp and Susan his wife, whose maiden name was Ward, of the family of Lord Ward of Bexley.
After the death of his father Charles Apthorp came to New England, and became one of the most distinguished merchants of Boston. He was paymaster and commissary under the British Government of the land and naval forces quartered in Boston. On the 13th January, 1726, he married Grizzel, daughter of John Eastwicke. She was born August, 1708, at Jamaica and came to Boston in 1716. Her mother was Griselda Lloyd, daughter of Sir John Lloyd of Somersetshire, England, who assisted in conveying King Charles II to France after the battle of Worcester.
Charles Apthorp was one of the first Wardens of Trinity church, and one of the committee that waited on Peter Faneuil, and in the name of the town to render him their "most hearty thanks for so beautiful a gift." To King's Chapel he was a bountiful benefactor, having given £1,000 towards its rebuilding.
Charles Apthorp had eighteen children, of whom fifteen survived him and eleven married. He died in Boston suddenly in 1758 at the age of sixty. His funeral took place at King's Chapel twelve days later and his remains were therein deposited. He was reputed as the "greatest and most noble merchant on the continent." He was also characterized as "a truly valuable member of society," and that "he left few equals behind him." A marble monument with a Latin inscription was placed in King's Chapel to his memory by his sons, "which monument covers the tomb of the truly-noble-minded race of Apthorp."
He was very proficient in and a great admirer of the Fine Arts, especially in painting and architecture; talents which have been transmitted to his descendants as Charles Bulfinch, Esq., the architect of the State House and other edifices. The original mansion in Brighton, Massachusetts, formerly the Charles Apthorp place, still remains and is of great antiquity.
On the death of Charles Apthorp he possessed the whole of Long Island, the largest island in Boston Harbor. Calf island also was formerly known as Apthorp's Island. The Apthorp heirs subsequently sold their interest in Long Island to their sister Grizzell's husband, Barlow Trecothick, Lord Mayor of London. After the death of Trecothick the island passed on the 11th June, 1790, into the possession of his brother-in-law Charles Ward Apthorp of New York.
Charles Ward Apthorp, the eldest son of Charles Apthorp, married in New York Mary McEvers. He had three sons and three daughters. Of his daughters, Charlotte Augusta was the only one who left descendants. Her husband was John Cornelius Vanden Heuvel, a Dutch gentleman of fortune, who had been Governor of Demerara and afterwards settled in New York. Maria Eliza, their eldest daughter, married John C. Hamilton, a son of the celebrated Alexander Hamilton.
Charles Ward Apthorp was a member of the Council of New York in 1763 and served until 1783. He had lands in Maine and a large amount of property in Boston, Brookline, and Roxbury, all of which was confiscated. He died at his seat, Bloomingdale, in 1797.