Thomas Worth Olcott (1795-1880) Section 52 Lot 1
President of the Mechanics & Farmers Bank, Vice President of Albany Law School, Founder and First Treasurer of Albany Rural Cemetery; President of Albany Agricultural and Arts Association, President of Albany Academy for Girls, Trustee of Albany Academy for Boys, President of Dudley Observatory
Thomas Worth Olcott was born in Hudson, N.Y. on May 22, 1795, to Josiah Olcott and Caroline Worth. Josiah was a whaler and was known as one of “The Proprietors,” a group of whalers and merchants from New England who settled the area. These Proprietors were seeking an inland whaling port safe from pirates and the British, who decimated their fleets and ability to trade during the American Revolution. His family home was at the corner of North Third and State Street, and he was educated in the Hudson schools and then at Albany Academy for Boys.
At a young age Thomas Olcott began working for the Columbia Bank of Hudson as a clerk. At age 16 he moved to Albany to work for the Mechanics and Farmers Bank, serving as a junior clerk. In 1817 he became a cashier, and from 1836 until his death he served as the president. His skills in the banking industry would be widely recognized. President Lincoln offered him the position of Comptroller of the Currency, but he declined due to his other interests; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase often consulted him on issues relating to the national banking system.
On September 3, 1844, he married Lucia Marvin Fowler and they had three children before she passed away on August 25, 1850. On October 5, 1853, he married Harriet M. Leonard and they had have four children before she died on January 13, 1861. He married his third wife, Emeline McClure, 43 years his junior, on February 19, 1863, and they had four children.
Olcott would serve on a number of boards in Albany and became known as “the most charitable man in Albany.” He was the vice-president of the first board of directors of Albany Law School; president of the first board of directors of the Dudley Observatory; president of the Albany Agricultural and Arts Association; trustee and president of Albany Academy for Girls; and trustee of the Albany Academy for Boys. He served as a founding member and president of Albany Rural Cemetery and was given a lot for the Olcott family at no cost for his assistance in establishing the cemetery.
Olcott served as the president of the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad Company and handled the financing of city bonds for the construction of the Boston and Albany Railroad during the acquisition of the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad.
In 1848 Thomas purchased the Ten Broeck homestead in Albany and he renovated it in the Greek Revival Style. He renamed the estate Arbor Hill for all the planted arbor trees around his home. He was an avid gardener and took pride in flora and fauna on his property. The name Arbor Hill would later be used for the area around the home and the neighborhood became a fashionable area to live in the 19th century. Olcott went on to construct a home at 138 Eagle Street, which currently serves as the Executive Mansion.
Olcott was known to be sympathetic to African Americans. He served as secretary for Schuyler’s Steam Tow Boat Line, a business operated by “the black Schuylers” whose lineage could be traced back to a former slave of Philip Schuyler. One of his black servants, Rosanna Vosburgh, is buried in the family plot. Upon her death, she left her estate to one of his sons.
Thomas Olcott passed away on March 23, 1880 and was interred in the family plot. A monument in the plot was sculpted by Erastus Dow Palmer with a bronze bias-relief in Thomas’ likeness.