WETMORE, WILLIAM BOERUM

Copyright © 2011-2016 John N. Lupia III

Wetmore, Maj. William Boerum (1849-1919), 167 Madison Avenue, New York; 5 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, New York, and Allenhurst New Jersey. He is the son of Samuel Wetmore (1812-1885) and Sarah T. Boerum (1820-1899) born on December 7, 1849. A friend of John Work Garrett (1820-1884) he was admitted to West Point upon recommendation by President Johnson from a request made by Garrett. He was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, 1867-72, served in the Indian War of 1874 and the Battle of Red River, and was a Cavalry Major 9th Regt. N.G.S.N.Y. 1879-1882 . In 1875 he published his address in Winner’s Coin & Stamp Journal as Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Sometime in 1877 he purchased from Henry Ahlborn (q.v.), a VF 1794 silver dollar.

His second marriage was to Katherine B. Havercamp . His collection of 1290 lots sold through the Samuel Hudson Chapman and Henry Chapman, 82nd sale. on June 27-28, 1906. Durst 674. Adams rating A. Contained ancient, Judaic, foreign coins, medals and gold, United States coins, medals, paper money, fractional currency, patterns and colonials. Among them was the famous Class I "Cohen Specimen" 1804 Silver Dollar.

He was an active life member of the ANS since May 20, 1879.

Fig. Wetmore correspondence with the Chapman Brothers, postmarked Allenhurst, New Jersey,

June 30, 1904. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family

Correspondence Archive.

Fig. 1. Mr. E. Grosjean correspondence with Maj. William B. Wetmore, postmarked June 29, 1906, 5:30 PM, New York, New York, Station G.

Grosjean was offering to sell Wetmore a Swiss coin, which turned out to have no premium value and so Wetmore offered him five cents.

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.

He died on March 24, 1919 at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Clubs :

Union, University, N.Y. Yacht, Larchmont Yacht, Manhattan, Army and Navy N.Y., Aero, N.Y., Newport, R.I., Army and Navy of Washington.

Societies :

Cincinnati, War of 1812, Naval Order,

Order of Veterans Indian Wars of U.S.,

New England, Chamber of Commerce N.Y.,

American Geographical Society,

American Numismatic Society, National

Academy of Design,

Metropolitan Museum of Art,

U.S. Military Service Institute,

U.S. Naval Institute,

Navy League,

U.S. Cavalry, Association.

Bibliography:

Proceedings of the American Numismatic and Archeological Society (1903) : 28

Winner, The Coin and Stamp Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, February (1875) : 8

Gengerke, Martin, American Numismatic Auctions, 8^th edition (1990) : 33;

Durst, Lorraine S., United States Numismatic Auction Catalogs : A Bibliography (New York, New York : Sanford J. Durst Numismatic Publications, 1981) : 31

Augsburger, Leonard, "The ANS Chapman Files: Major William Boerum Wetmore" The Asylum (2007)

Mason's Coin Collector's Magazine Vol. I, No. 12, May (1885) : 122. Adams, Vol. 1, 84, 90

New York Yacht Club. (Knickerbocker Press, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Bros, New York ,1916) : 45

Gnecchi, Ercole and Francesco, eds., Guida Numismatica 4^th edition. (Milano : U. Hoepli, 1903. Edition) : 557, No. 5785

Eric P. Newman and Kenneth Bressett, The Fantastic 1804 Dollar (Whitman Publishing, 1962) : 120