R. S. Reynolds Hitt

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R. S. Reynolds Hitt
Hitt as found in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1910
U.S. Minister to Guatemala
In office
October 14, 1910 – March 4, 1913
Preceded byWilliam Franklin Sands
Succeeded byWilliam Hayne Leavell
U.S. Minister to Panama
In office
March 26, 1910 – July 19, 1910
Preceded byHerbert G. Squiers
Succeeded byThomas C. Dawson
Personal details
Born(1876-06-07)June 7, 1876
Paris, France
DiedApril 16, 1938(1938-04-16) (aged 61)
Washington, D.C.
Spouse
Edith Romeyn Gray
​
(m. 1902)​
ChildrenRobert Reynolds Hitt
Sally Reynolds Hitt
ParentRobert R. Hitt
Alma materHarvard College
Harvard Law School

Robert Stockwell Reynolds Hitt (June 7, 1876 – April 16, 1938) was an American diplomat.

Early life[edit]

Hitt was born on June 7, 1876, in Paris, France where his father was stationed after being appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as First Secretary of the American Legation there. His father was Robert R. Hitt, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln who was also a U.S. Representative and the former United States Assistant Secretary of State under Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. His mother was Sarah Anne "Sally" Reynolds (1843–1949), one of the Washington's leading socialites,[1] and his younger brother was William Floyd Reynolds Hitt (who married Katherine Elkins, who was famous for her relationship with Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, and after Katherine's death, Eugenia Woodward).[2]

His paternal grandfather was the Rev. Thomas Smith Hitt of Kentucky and his maternal grandparents were Elizabeth (née Stockwell) Reynolds and William Floyd Reynolds, president of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad.[3]

Hitt attended Harvard College, where he received his A.B. degree in 1898, and Harvard Law School, from where he graduated in 1901.[4]

Career[edit]

After his graduation from Harvard Law, he immediately joined the diplomatic service, serving successively as Third Secretary of the Embassy at Paris from 1901 to 1902, Second Secretary at Embassy at Berlin from 1902 to 1905, Secretary at the Embassy at Rome from 1905 to 1908,[5] followed by Secretary at Embassy at Berlin from 1908 to 1910.[4]

On December 21, 1909, he was named by President William Howard Taft as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Panama.[6] He presented his credentials to President Carlos Antonio Mendoza on March 29, 1910,[7] serving until he presented his recall on July 19, 1910.[8] On June 24, 1910, he was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Venezuela. Although he took the oath of office, he did not proceed to his post (which was not filled until the appointment of John W. Garrett in March 1911), instead, President Taft appointed him as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Guatemala on September 17, 1910. Hitt was commissioned during a recess of the Senate before being recommissioned on December 15, 1910, after confirmation. He had presented his credentials on October 14, 1910, and served until he left his post on March 3, 1913,[9] following the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson after which Hitt retired from the diplomatic service.[6]

Personal life[edit]

Hitt's residence, 1520 18th Street, NW.

On December 23, 1902, Hitt was married to Edith Romeyn Gray (1880–1964) at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan. Edith was a daughter of Judge John Clinton Gray.[10] Together, they were the parents of:[11]

  • Elizabeth Hitt (1905–1953), who married Andor de Hertelendy, then Secretary of the Legation of Hungary, in 1927 with Count László Széchenyi as best man.[12][13][14]
  • Robert Reynolds Hitt (1907–1984),[15] who married Evelyn Bigelow Clark, a daughter of New York banker James Francis A. Clark and Edith Evelyn (née Bigelow) Clark,[16] in 1932.[17] After having one child, they divorced in 1943 and she remarried to Winthrop Stuyvesant Emmet (son of C. Temple Emmet).[18]

The Hitt's hired French architect Jules Henri de Sibour to design their home at 1520 18th Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Construction of the 40-room, five-story home was completed in 1914 at a cost of $77,000. It has served as the Washington location of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office since the 1990s and was the residence of Ogden L. Mills (while he was the Undersecretary of the Treasury), Dwight F. Davis (while he was U.S. Secretary of War), Walter Evans Edge (while he was in the U.S. Senate), and Bernard Baruch (while he was an adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt).[19][20]

Hitt died on at 2244 S Street, his home in Washington, D.C. (which today is the Irish Ambassadors residence),[21] in April 1938.[4] His widow died in Washington in September 1964.[22]

Descendants[edit]

Through his daughter, he was a grandfather of Emery Hertelendy and Paul Hertelendy,[22] and through his son, Robert, he was a grandfather of Diana Bigelow Hitt, who married Henry Simmons Romaine, a grandson of President of the New York Stock Exchange Edward H. H. Simmons, in 1957,[23] and Jeffrey Potter, son of writer Fuller Potter and grandson of the Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott Potter, in 1963.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Times, Special to the New York (2 February 1949). "MRS. ROBERT R. HITT DIES IN CAPITAL, 105". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Katherine Elkins and William Hitt: A Portrait of a Marriage...or Two". Washington Chronicles. March 14, 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Obituary Notes -- William F. Reynolds". The New York Times. 1 August 1880. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b c TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (17 April 1938). "R. S. R. HITT DEAD; RETIRED DIPLOMAT; U. S. Minister to Guatemala From 1910 Until 1913 Is Stricken in Washington HE ALSO SERVED IN EUROPE Started Career in Paris Where His Father Once Was First Secretary of Legation". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  5. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (16 August 1908). "A DIPLOMATIC EXCHANGE.; R.S. Reynolds Hitt Has Gone to Berlin -- John W. Garrett Ill in Rome". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Robert Stockwell Reynolds Hitt - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Hitt Received at Panama". The New York Times. 27 March 1910. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Reynolds Hitt Leaves Panama.; Sir Percy Bates a Cunard Director". The New York Times. 23 July 1910. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  9. ^ "DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENTS". The New York Times. 11 July 1913. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ "$50,000 IN JEWELS FOUND IN TAXICAB; Gems of Mrs. R.S.R. Hitt Are Returned After Driver Turns Them Over to Police. REWARD PROMISED TO HIM Man, Until Recently Out of Work, Picked Up Bag in Car After Driving Owner to Station". The New York Times. 6 August 1931. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ^ "John Clinton Gray". history.nycourts.gov. Historical Society of the New York Courts. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. ^ Times, Special to The New York (8 March 1927). "MISS HITT TO WED MAR. 31.; Her Marriage to Andor de Hertelendy to Take Place in Washington". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  13. ^ Times, Special to The New York (1 April 1927). "ELIZABETH HITT DIPLOMAT'S BRIDE; Wed to Andor de Hertelendy, Secretary of Legation of Hungary, at Her Parent's Home, COUNT SZECHENYI BEST MAN Bridal Pair to Spend Three Months in Europe and Visit Bridegroom's Mother in Budapest". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  14. ^ Ruderman, Kurt (21 January 1990). "Ensemble's visit brings back memories of life in Hungary". The Star-Democrat. p. 1. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Robert R. Hitt". The Berkshire Eagle. 16 April 1984. p. 12. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  16. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (24 August 1949). "MRS. BIGELOW CLARK". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  17. ^ "EVELYN B. CLARK TO WED APRIL 19; She Will Marry Robert R. Hitt at the Park Avenue Home of Her Parents. NO BRIDAL ATTENDANTS Rev. E, Russell Bourne Is to Per- form the CeremonyuBride-Elect Is Kin of John Bigelow". The New York Times. 10 March 1932. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  18. ^ "MRS. EVELYN C. HITT WED TO NAVY OFFICER; Becomes Bride in Greenwich of Lieut. Winthrop S. Emmet". The New York Times. 18 March 1943. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  19. ^ Arts, United States Commission of Fine (1975). Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Northwest Washington, District of Columbia. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 107–108. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  20. ^ Hansen, Stephen A. (26 August 2014). A History of Dupont Circle: Center of High Society in the Capital. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62585-084-3. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Embassy History & Previous Ambassadors". Embassy of Ireland, USA. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Deaths--HITT—Edith Gray". The New York Times. 26 September 1964. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  23. ^ "MISS DIANA B. HITT OFFICER'S FIANCEE; Sarah Lawrence Alumna to Be Wed to Lieut. Henry S. Romaine of Navy Air Arm". The New York Times. 12 August 1957. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Mrs. Diana Romaine Bride of Jeffrey Potter". The New York Times. 18 April 1963. Retrieved 4 March 2022.

External links[edit]

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