George Arents (b.1876 NYC – d. NYC 1960) was an industrialist inventor and philanthropist. He was educated at Wilson Kellogg School, Columbia University, and received an M.A. from Syracuse University. From 1896-1905, he worked with American Tobacco Company. He went on to found the American Machine & Foundry Company and the International Cigar Machinery Company. He and his partner Rufus L. Patterson received a patent on a cigar-rolling machine and eventually they produced two-thirds of the cigars manufactured in the United States. In 1893, Arents purchased a pamphlet entitled 'A Pinch of Snuff,' for $2.25. This purchase ignited a passion to collect tobacciana. (He also made his fortune from it.) He bought books and all items connected to tobacco. Later he bought a rare 1507 volume 'Cosmographiae Introductio', written by Martin Waldesmuller, a teacher in France, who cites Amerigo Vespucci observing Native Americans chewing a green plant — tobacco. This book is the first printed reference to tobacco. The George Arents, Jr. Collection, now in New York Public Library on 5th Avenue, is in two Georgian-style, pine-paneled rooms. It is the most important collection of tobacco-related material in the world. By 1952, five illustrated volumes were published on the collection: 'Tobacco, its History Illustrated by Books, Manuscripts, and Engravings in the Library of George Arents, Jr.' Arents and his family gave a 21-bell carillon to St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue. He served on the Board of Trustees at Syracuse University from 1930 to 1960. Arents was also a trustee of the New York Public Library. He belonged to the Century Association, The Racquet and Tennis Club, the Friends of Yale Library, the Huguenot and St. Nicholas Societies, the Grolier Club and the American Society of the French Legion of Honor.
Amerigo Vespucci
(b. 1451 Florence, Italy – d. Seville, Spain 1512)
has been blamed for trying to replace Columbus as the discoverer of America. His prominent family was friendly with the Medici rulers of Florence, Italy, and Vespucci worked as a banker for them in Florence, and later Seville. His portrait was painted by Ghirlandaio when he was 19. His first voyage was likely a few years after Columbus, and he was not captain of a ship.His name appears on a second voyage (1499) when Alonso de Ojeda the commander, in a later report named a 'Morigo Vespuche' as one of his pilots. That voyage sailed to Cape Santo Agostinho, at the shoulder of Brazil. After Brazil, Vespucci coasted westward past the Maracaibo Gulf until he turned to Hispaniola. This would have been the first expedition to touch Brazil and to cross the equator in the New World. Vespucci likely discovered the mouth of the Amazon River. In 1551, Portugal sponsored Vespucci in a voyage that traced the South American coast. In a letter he sent to Florence, Vespucci called South America 'Mundus Novus' (New World). He made one more voyage and then retired to Seville. He was given the job of pilot major, and trained pilots and collected New World navigation information. Columbus did not think Vespucci tried to claim he had made the epic discovery. In 1505, Columbus wrote to his son, Diego, saying of Vespucci, 'It has always been his wish to please me; he is a man of good will; fortune has been unkind to him as to others; his labors have not brought him the rewards he in justice should have.'
St. Thomas
(circa 1st century)
born into a Jewish family, was an apostle. He earned the sobriquet 'Doubting Thomas' when he refused to believe in the Resurrection of Christ until he touched the risen Christ's wounds. Seeing the wounds he exclaimed, 'My Lord and My God,' thus making a public profession of faith in the divinity of Christ. Afterwards he traveled to India. The Syrian Christians of Malabar believe they were evangelized by him. He was speared to death at Calamine. The Portuguese who arrived in India in 1522 found the tomb at Mylapore where he is thought to have been buried. He is the patron saint of architects.
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1) Woodlawn Cemetery Map [46]
