Pierre Lorillard IV

Pierre Lorillard IV (October 13 1833 – July 7 1901) was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Pierre Lorillard Dead. Famous in Society, in Commerce, and in the World of Sport. First American to Win the English Derby. Other Triumphs on the Turf in Both Hemispheres. |url= |quote=Pierre Lorillard died at the Fifth Avenue Hotel at 2:10 o'clock yesterday afternoon. He had for some time been in a semi-comatose condition. He realized two days ago that the end was near. |publisher=New York Times |date=July 8, 1901 |accessdate=2007-12-28 ]

Biography

Born in Westchester, New York, he was the son of Pierre Lorillard III (1796-1867) and Catherine Griswold. In 1760, his great-grandfather, and namesake, founded P. Lorillard and Company in New York City to process tobacco, cigars, and snuff. Today, Lorillard Tobacco Company is the oldest tobacco company in the U.S. Pierre Lorillard married Emily Taylor (b. January 21, 1841) in 1858 with whom he had four children. She was the daughter of Isaac Ebenezer Taylor (b. 1815) and Sarah Knight (b. 1825). He is the grandfather of the artist Peter Hill Beard.

In the early 1880s Lorillard helped make Newport, Rhode Island a yachting center with his schooner "Vesta" and a steam yacht "Radha." He owned a summer estate in Newport called "The Breakers" which he sold to Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1885 in order to use his newly developed estate, the Tuxedo Club, at what became known as Tuxedo Park in Orange County, New York. Lorillard had inherited 13,000 acres (53 km²) around Tuxedo Lake which he developed in conjunction with William Waldorf Astor and other wealthy associates into a luxury retreat. While it has been reported that Lorillard's son, Griswold Lorillard, introduced the then-unnamed tuxedo to the United States in 1886 at the Tuxedo Club's Autumn Ball, this is now known to be incorrect. While Griswold and his friends did create a stir by wearing unorthodox clothing, their jackets were were closer to tailcoats without tails, or what would now be called a mess jacket. [ [http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/02.htm Black Tie Guide | History: Origins ] at www.blacktieguide.com]

An avid sportsman, Pierre Lorillard and his brother George Lyndes Lorillard were both involved in thoroughbred horse racing. Although Pierre Lorillard's horse Parole finished fourth in the 1876 Kentucky Derby, it went on to race with considerable success both in the United States and in Europe. However, another horse owned by Pierre Lorillard name "Saxon" won the Belmont Stakes that year. In the 19th century, shipping horses from New York to Louisville, Kentucky was a major undertaking and because back then both the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes were both held in the New York City area, neither of the Lorillard brothers raced again in the Derby. Pierre Lorillard established Rancocas Stable, named for the New Jersey town where Lorillard owned a country house. He spent time in Paris and in England where in 1881 his horse Iroquois became the first American-owned and -bred horse to win a European classic race. Ridden by the champion English jockey, Fred Archer, Iroquois won the Epsom Derby then went on to capture the St. Leger Stakes as well. Lorillard had other successes in England notably with the horse named for the actor "David Garrick" who won the 1901 Chester Cup ridden by American jockey, Danny Maher.

Beyond his interest in racehorses, Lorillard was a scholar who financed the Central American expedition of the French [archaeologist] Désiré Charnay and his publication of "The Ancient Cities of the New World. Being Travels and Explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857 - 1882"." For making the project possible, the government of France awarded Lorillard the Legion of Honor. Charnay named some Maya ruins "Lorillard City" in his honor, but the name did not stick, and the site is better known as Yaxchilan. Lorillard also helped finance some of the explorations of Augustus Le Plongeon.

Pierre Lorillard died in 1901, aged 67, and was interred in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His wife Emily died in 1925 and was interred next to him.

Lorillard Place in The Bronx is named for him and brother George.

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