Leonard Walter Jerome (November 3, 1817 – March 3, 1891) He was a patron of the arts, and joined in the founding of the Academy of Music, one of New York City's earliest opera houses.

During the New York Draft Riots, Jerome defended the New York Times office building with a Gatling Gun. Although he had significant holdings in the Times, he was not the majority shareholder as is sometimes erroneously claimed.

The Jerome Mansion, on the corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street, had a six-hundred-seat theatre, a breakfast room which seated seventy people, a ballroom of white and gold with champagne- and cologne-spouting fountains, and a view of Madison Square Park. It was later sold and housed a series of private clubs. The mansion was demolished in 1967.

Sporting activities

Jerome was an avid sportsman. He enjoyed yachting with his friend, William K. Vanderbilt. They shared a passion for thoroughbred horse racing and helped found the American Jockey Club.

In the late 1860s, Jerome was part of several hunting trips in the American West. These trips were guided by Buffalo Bill Cody.

In 1866, Jerome bought the estate and mansion of James Bathgate near Old Fordham Village in what was then rural Westchester County, but is now The Bronx. Jerome and financier August Belmont, Sr. built Jerome Park Racetrack on the Bathgate land; the first Belmont Stakes was held there in 1867. Jerome and his brother Lawrence had a wide boulevard made from Macombs Dam to the track, which city authorities attempted to name "Murphy Avenue" after a local politician. This incensed Jerome's wife so much that she had bronze plaques saying "Jerome Avenue" made up and bolted into place along the road, forcing the city to accept the name. daughter of the wealthy Amos Hall, in Palmyra, New York. Together, they had four daughters. One daughter, Camille, died at age eight. The other three – Jeanette, Clarita, and Leonie – became known, in some quarters, as "the Good, the Witty and the Beautiful". Leonard Jerome's wealth afforded his daughters the opportunity to spend much time in Europe, where they associated with the aristocratic elite of the day. All three daughters married British or Anglo-Irish husbands: He also had an affair in the 1860s with Fanny Ronalds, then separated from her husband. Ronalds later lived in London, where she remained a friend of Jerome's daughter Jennie.

Leonard Jerome died at the age of 73 in Brighton, England, surrounded by his wife and surviving daughters. He was originally buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in England, and later buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Legacy

Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, Jerome Avenue in Brooklyn, Jerome Park Reservoir, and the Jerome Stakes are all named after him.

In 2023 Jerome was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf for his contributions to thoroughbred racing.

References

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;Bibliography

  • McNamara, John "History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names" (1993) Bronx County Historical Society