George Gosman DeWitt

George Gosman DeWitt Jr. (April 9, 1845 – January 12, 1912) was a prominent American lawyer and philanthropist.
Early life.
DeWitt was born in Callicoon in Sullivan County on April 9, 1845. He was the one of seven children born to George Gosman DeWitt Sr. (1808–1891) and Julia (née Foster) DeWitt (1813–1899) (who was from Lansingburg, New York), who married in 1836. Among his siblings were Jeanette DeWitt; Peter DeWitt, a merchant; Julian Foster DeWitt, who married Ellen Tiffany; William Gillespie DeWitt; Theodore DeWitt; and Susan Caroline DeWitt.
His paternal grandparents were Jenat (née Gosman) DeWitt and Peter DeWitt (1780–1851), the "attorney for the New York City Mayor's Court", and "a man of considerable and varied accomplishments." Among his great-grandparents were Johannes Radcliff DeWitt, a mill owner Revolutionary War soldier who served as Sheriff of Dutchess County, New York. Among his extended family was Charles DeWitt, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and Charles G. DeWitt, a U.S. Representative and U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, Guatemala.
After graduating from Yale in 1826, his father began working in a mercantile office in New York until his "health became impaired," causing him to move to Callicoon where George Jr. was born. Young George later attended Dr. Charles Anthon's Columbia Grammar School, followed by Columbia University, earning an A.B. degree in 1867 and an A.M. degree in 1869, and Columbia Law School, where he earned an LL.B. degree in 1870.
Career.
DeWitt followed in his grandfather's footsteps and began practicing law, becoming a member of his uncle's, C. J. and E. DeWitt, law firm of DeWitt, Lockman & Kip, based at 88 Nassau Street (his grandfather's former office), with John Thomas Lockman and George Goelet Kip, later known as DeWitt, Lockman & DeWitt. The firm was known for its work defending the estates of New York's old Dutch families. He was a trustee of his alma mater, Columbia University (beginning in 1890), of the Fulton Trust Company, the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, the Greenwich Savings Bank and a director of the Chemical National Bank.
DeWitt was a governor of New York Hospital and Roosevelt Hospital, and a vice-president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was elected a member of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York on March 4, 1889 and, in 1904, served two terms as the Society's 42nd President, succeeding Stuyvesant Fish.
Personal life.
On May 23, 1877, DeWitt was married to Ellen "Ella" Reed Flagg (1852–1933).
DeWitt died of heart disease on January 12, 1912 at his home, 39 West 51st Street in New York City. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.