Talk:August Belmont

Untitled
Family name BELMONT :

August Schönberg assumed the surname Belmont (an alternative french translation of his german family name Schön-berg = Bel-mont) for himself and his descendants. No citation and not true--see below.

Did he have a third son, Perry Belmont?

The Political Graveyard says:
 * Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., December 28, 1851. Son of August Belmont (1816-1890) and Caroline Slidell (Perry) Belmont; married 1899 to Jessie Robbins; brother of August Belmont (1853-1924) and Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont.

The U.S. Congress says: BELMONT, Perry, (brother of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont), a Representative from New York; born in New York City December 28, 1851;

Because of http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2587502369/belmont-august.html; and https://archive.org/stream/belmontbelmonte00gottgoog/belmontbelmonte00gottgoog_djvu.txt at page 165 ''et. seq. and the following reproduced verbatim'', I have some questions about the name Belmont having originally been Schönberg.

See also:

Dr. H. G. Reissner 43-18 168 Street Flushing, N.Y. 11348

Lieber Herr Reissner!

Ich danke Ihnen für Ihren Brief vom 19. Nov. 1966, insbesondere für die Informationen in Sachen BELMONT. Es ist richtig, daß in den Unterlagen in Alzey seit Beginn der Namensgebung ausschließlich der Name Belmont erscheint; von einem Namen Schönberg; ist m Alzey nichts bekannt und nichts zu finden. Es gibt u.a. Belmonts, welche Pferdehändler in Alzey v/pren. Der Name war dort ziemlich häufig verbreitet. Für die Hinweise, mich an Frau Liebeschütz zu wenden, bzw. die Adresse danke ich Ihnen.

,,,

Mit Grüßen

bestem Dank für Ihre freundliche Kooperation und freundlichen

(Dr. P. Arnsberg) From http://archive.org/stream/hannsreissnercol08reis/hannsreissnercol08reis_djvu.txt

Here is the letter published in the Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, Vol. XI, 1986, p.338: AUGUST BELMONT

In his interesting article on the German America Jews (Year Book X, 1965, pp. 57-116) Dr. H. G. Reissner mentioned the financier August Belmont in New York and added that he was born as August Schönberg in Alzey and baptized at an early age. The source of these details was, as Dr. Reissner kindly informed me by letter, 1. Encyclopaedia Judaica (Eschkol Verl.), 2. The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, Doubleday, New York, 1959.

It is not surprising that legends would form about a family whose founder in America obviously deliberately concealed his origin. For instance, Mrs. Anita Leslie in her biography of Churchill’s American grandfather (The fabulous Leonard Jerome. Hutchinson, 1955) who was a friend of August B., writes on p.  61: “... August Belmont was the son of a well-to-do yeoman farmer in the Rhenish Palatinate.”  Actually August B.’s father Simon Belmont (1789-1859) was a wealthy money lender in Alzey, who also owned a number of separate agricultural holdings (ACER, as he called them) on both banks of the Rhine. I possess a great number of letters and documents centered around this person. The name “Belmont” was officially given to the family in Napoleon’s time under the law of 1808. This fact is mentioned in a letter of the 12. Nov. 1811 from the Ministre de l’Intérieur in Paris to M. Aaron Belmont of Alzey Simon B.’s Brother). That already Simon’s grandfather (August’s greatgrandfather) [sic] was known by the name of Isaak Belmont appears from a document of Dec. 9, 1819 signed by the mayor of Alzey, Conrady.  In documents where the name Belmont is not given, the traditional patronymic is used:  Isaac Simon, Simon Aaron; never does the name Schönberg appear. As to the faith professed by the family; already at the age of 22 Simon Belmont was Commissaire surveillant des Synagogues à Alzey (letter from the Grand Rabbin Samuel Levy of 9.1.1811).  August B.   originally received the name Aron after his grandfather.  He and his sister Elisabetha, my great-grandmother, were brought up as Jews.  I do not know when he changed his first name and adopted the Christian faith.

Liverpool,								                                                                                         RACHEL LIEBESCHÜTZ Mr. Posen (talk) 03:16, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Entry into politics, 1st paragraph, last sentence
The sentence has a long parenthetical remark. Without that remark is reads: Soon, John Slidell, his wife's uncle who later made Belmont his protégé. It does not make sense to this reader. Greenwayfriend (talk) 13:37, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Entry for Perry B. indicates he's a child, but is not listed here
The article lists Caroline Slidell Perry as wife and only two children: A. B., jr., and Oliver. However entry for Perry Belmont lists A.B. and Caroline Slidell Perry as parents. Should P.B.'s be added as a child? Greenwayfriend (talk) 14:39, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Positions on policy (incl. esp. on race?)
I do not have the expertise or the resources to add this content myself, but I am surprised that the article doesn't seem to describe anything of what policies or policy positions Belmont stood for or supported.

We have this one paragraph that says "While the party chairman had originally promoted Charles Francis Adams for the nomination, Greeley's nomination implied Democratic endorsement of a candidate who as publisher of the famous nationally dominant newspaper, the New York Tribune, had often earlier referred to Democrats before, during and after the War as "slaveholders", "slave-whippers", "traitors", and "Copperheads" and accused them of "thievery, debauchery, corruption, and sin"." But this seems to be more about Greeley's characterization of Adams and of the party as a whole... We also have this image of Belmont standing alongside Nathan B. Forrest and an Irishman trampling atop a Black man. But what is this actually signifying? What racist policies did Belmont actually support? What was the DNC party platform at the time that he was chairman? What was his role in getting certain policies added into, or removed from, that platform?

Since Belmont is such a prominent figure - e.g. donor whose name is found in/on numerous buildings, monuments, etc. - it seems to me that knowing this would be of interest to Wikipedia readers. And, since his image appears in illustrations such as this one by Thomas Nast, one wonders why Nast is depicting him this way, the truth or falsity of it, just what Belmont's politics were that Nast should feature him in this fashion.

Apologies to suggest something that I am not myself going to go do the research to add myself, but I hope someone else might. Cheers. LordAmeth (talk) 04:59, 20 August 2022 (UTC)