Charles Robert Troup

Charles Robert Troup was born on 3 August 1845 in Skelton, Yorkshire, England.^1,2,3,4 (The Old Parish Records for Skelton give his birth date as 2 August 1845.⁴) He was the son of Robert Troup and Jane Robertson.

Charles Robert Troup was baptized on 31 August 1845 at Skelton Old Church, Skelton, Yorkshire, England.⁴

Charles Robert Troup appeared on the census of 1851 at Skelton, Yorkshire, England, in the household of his father.⁵

Charles Robert Troup arrived on 21 September 1874 at the Port of New York, New York, as a steerage passenger on the steam ship Celtic (White Star Line) from Liverpool; the ship had 447 passengers in steerage and 145 in cabin class.⁶

Charles Robert Troup married Rachel Amelia Walpole, daughter of William Walpole and Mary Burnett, on 29 April 1876 in Unionville (now Hawthorne), Westchester County, New York.^2,7

Charles Robert Troup appeared on the census of 7 June 1880 at Sea Cliff, Nassau County, New York.⁸ He was a coachman according to the census of 7 June 1880 at Sea Cliff. The household preceding his on the census record was that of John F. Pirie, age 52, Dry Goods Merchant, born in Scotland. John F. Pirie was also enumerated, with his wife, on 15 June 1880 at 145 Park Place, Brooklyn. John Pirie's daughter Sarah appeared on the census of 13 June 1920 at Oyster Bay.^8,9,10,11

It was Frank Kenneth DeVoe's understanding that Charles Troup had been trained as a horticulturist and that he was the superintendent of the Pirie estate on Long Island.¹² Kenneth had once been to the estate as a young boy, and remembered a merry-go-round on the grounds.¹² In 1995 Margaret Troupe showed Kenneth DeVoe a photograph of John T. Pirie's home "Craig Vera" in Sea Cliff, New York, that she had obtained from the library there; Kenneth did not recognize it as being the estate he had visited.¹³

Charles Robert Troup was naturalized on 15 October 1880 in Brooklyn, New York.¹⁴

Charles Robert Troup appears in a family photograph taken about 1885.

Charles Robert Troup died on 24 December 1886 in 470 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, New York, at age 41.^7,2,15,3 The cause of death was "intestinal obstruction."¹⁵ The funeral was on 26 December 1886 at the Katonah Methodist Church, Katonah, Westchester County, New York.¹⁶ He was buried in plot 223, Katonah Cemetery, Old Katonah, Westchester County, New York. The bodies in this cemetery were removed before 1907 for the filling of the Croton Aqueduct reservoir.^17,15,18 He was reburied on 29 November 1906 in lot 1350 (Walpole plot), Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.^19,3,20

On 1 February 1887, fourteen-year-old Mary Ann Troup ("Pollie") in England wrote to her aunt, Agnus Troup, as follows: It was such a shock to us to hear about Dear Uncle Charlies Death. I think I ought to have my hat in a little bit of morning like for him but I dont know as it wont bring him to life again. Probably Rachel (Walpole) Troup had sent the sad news of her husband's death to his family in England.²¹