The Havemeyer Family

It is likely that no family has had as lasting an impact of the town of Mahwah as the Havemeyer family. The Havemeyer family is an old family that came to the United States from Germany in the 18th century. In New York City the Havemeyers established themselves in the sugar refining industry, opening one of the first sugar refineries in New York City. Under William Frederick Havemeyer and his cousin Frederick Christian Havemeyer they established the firm W.F. & F.C. Havemeyer sugar refiners. William Frederick would leave the sugar industry to become the Democratic mayor of New York City in 1845, while Frederick Christian's sons, Theodore Havemeyer and Henry Osborne Havemeyer would take of the sugar refinery. In 1882 the refinery was destroyed by a fire, and the Havemeyer family pooled all its resources into building a new one with state of the art equipment that was capable of refining over three million pounds of sugar a day. They expanded the company into the American Sugar Refining Company. American Sugar was one of the 12 first companies included in the DOW Jones Industrial Average for the stock market, and still exists today being the owner of Domino Foods and Domino sugar.

            While their industry was mostly based in New York City the Havemeyers like several other influential families were attracted to the rural setting of Mahwah and decided to make a home there. They purchased property to establish the Mountainside Farm which would become an award winning cattle farm. The Havemeyers would leave their mark on the town of Mahwah in many ways. The estate on which they built the Mountainside Farm is now mostly the grounds of the Ramapo College of New Jersey. Furthermore, the Havemeyer Mansion serves as the home of the President of the college and the Birch Mansion serves as the administrative building of the college. The Havemeyers brought much wealth, business, and development to Mahwah and their legacy is still felt to this day. The Havemeyer family was a massive family, with Frederick Christian Havemeyer and his wife Sarah Louise Havemeyer having 8 children. Their son Theodore with his wife Emilie Havemeyer would have nine. Therefore, many in the family share the same names and it is easy to get confused. Some of the more notable members of the Havemeyer family are William Frederick Havemeyer, Frederick Christian Havemeyer, Theodore Havemeyer, and Henry O. Havemeyer.