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May 24, 1877, Ellin Travers, daughter of
William Travers. 7. Denning Duer (2),
mentioned below.
(IV) Denning Duer, son of William
Denning and Caroline (King) Duer. was
born September 15, 1850, in Weehawken,
New Jersey. He received his early education
in the public schools of Wehawken,
and after completing the course of study
offered there, he embarked on a business
career as a stock broker in New York
City. He was a man with keen business
talent, and succeeded admirably in this
venture in which he remained for several
years. In addition to his business ability,
he was also a thinker, student, and
born diplomat. His recognized ability
and genius in this line was instrumental
in securing him an appointment from
President Arthur in 1881 as Consul at
Lisbon, Portugal. He rendered valuable
services in this important position, and his
worth was recognized to such an extent
that he was retained in the consular serv-
ice by the succeeding administration, that
of President Cleveland. During this administration
he was United States Consul
at Antwerp, Holland, and was later iden-
tified in an official capacity with the consulate
in London.
To travel and live abroad among foreign
peoples is an education than which
there is none more broadening, and com-
plete. Contact daily with customs differing
in their essentials from those to which
one has been accustomed, is bound to
effect in the mind of a man a deep understanding
and sympathy with human
nature, a sort of divine tolerance. These
qualities Mr. Duer had in abundance, and
in consequence possessed friends all over
the world. Upon quitting the diplomatic
service he returned to America and settled
in New Haven, Connecticut, where
he resided for the remainder of his life.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
188
After his retirement from official life, Mr.
Duer did not again actively enter the business
world, though he still continued and
did until the end of his life take a keen
and active interest in almost every phase
of life in the city of New Haven. The
same qualities which had made him a
successful man and a more successful
consul, made his advice sought by some
of the most influential men of the city,
whose friend he was.
On February 12, 1874, Mr. Duer married
Louise Suydam, of Babylon, Long
Island, New York, a daughter of Henry
L. and Phoebe (Higbie) Suydam. Her
mother died when Mrs. Duer was five
years of age, and she made her home
thereafter with her aunt and uncle, Ferdinand
and Caroline (Whitney) Suydam,
of New York. (See Suydam).
To Mr. and Mrs. Duer two children
were born. 1. Caroline Suydam, married
George Xavier McLanahan, of Washing-
ton, D. C, and is the mother of four chil-
dren :
Duer,
Helen, Louise Suydam and
George. 2. Louise, born in 1882, died in
November, 1890. Mrs. Louise (Suydam)
Duer survives her husband, and resides
in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a
member of the Colonial Dames and the
Connecticut Society. A niece of Mr.
Duer is the wife of the well known surgeon,
Dr. Joseph Blake, of the American
Hospital in Paris.
SUYDAM FAMILY,
Ancestral History.
Suydam Arms—Argent, a chevron azure between
in chief two crescents gules, and in base a
mullet of the last.
Crest—A swan in water among reeds proper.
Motto—De tyd vlicgt.
The Suydam family is one of very great
antiquity, dating in the Netherlands from