F. Augustus Schermerhorn

The business in New York City real estate, which Frederick Augustus Schermerhorn conducted with marked success during many years, represented only a part of his life work. He left his college studies for the ranks in the Civil War, serving with the Seventh Regiment, in which he was brevetted captain for gallantry at Five Forks. Later, during his business career, he gave his time and energy to the cause of education; having an active share in the building up of the New York Trade School and serving for many years as Trustee of Columbia. Mr. Schermerhorn was a man of kindly and gentle presence; thoughtful and considerate to a rare degree in his attitude towards others; always imbued with the sense of his own duty. It is recalled of him that, when the Spanish War broke out and he was too old for service, he fixed on his own special treasure—the private yacht which had just been finished in accordance with his long-entertained plans and desires—and gave it immediately to his government for dispatch-boat service.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1920 Century Association Yearbook