Henry W. de Forest

A Centurion, finding on his doorstep a fast-express box containing a magnificent Restigouche salmon might well find on the accompanying card the name of Henry W. de Forest. This sportsman and lover of gardens by nature and disposition was known to the business community as a director of railroads, banks, and insurance companies—the sort of director who invariably serves on the executive committee. In his seventieth year he was still serving on twenty-one boards. When Harriman and Fish were battling for control of the Illinois Central, both antagonists approved de Forest’s policies for the railroad. Pilgrimages were made to his beautiful box-hedged garden on Cold Spring Harbor. He was effectively interested in the preservation of wild life in Louisiana, Canada, and intervening points. He gave decades of shrewd advice as a working trustee of the leading hospitals of Manhattan. For ten years he served as president of the New York Botanical Garden.

Geoffrey Parsons
1938 Century Memorials