century association biographical archive

Earliest Members of the Century Association

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William Loring Andrews

Leather Merchant/Collector

Centurion, 1882–1920

Born 9 September 1837 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Died 19 March 1920 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Buried Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Proposed by Alfred J. Taylor and Robert Hoe III

Elected 6 May 1882 at age forty-four

Century Memorial

During half of his long life William Loring Andrews was known to his friends and associates as a prosperous leather merchant in “the Swamp”; during the other half, as an enthusiastic and discriminating collector of rare books, prints, paintings, and porcelains. His collection of Americana achieved deserved celebrity among collectors and amateurs. He was a founder of the Grolier Club and long honorary librarian of the Metropolitan Museum; but his avocations as amateur never prevented the devoting of his time and energy to useful public work.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1921 Century Association Yearbook