Not just a guy with a street named after him in South Brooklyn, that's who.
He was a big deal. A rich and pious dude with a lot of moolah who owned much of the 12th Ward. So tells a big gold plaque just inside the door of Cobble Hill's Christ Church. Nicholas Luquer (1810-1864) donated the land on which the Richard Upjohn church was erected.
Sarah Luquer, the daughter of Nicholas and his wife Sarah, lived at 618 Henry Street, a house built on what was the Luquer farm. She lived there all her life and died in 1898. Funeral services were held at Christ Church. There were apparently many Nicholases after the original. The family had a mill at the corner of Hicks and Huntington. The original Nick's grandson Nick was described as "a thin, French-looking man [who] raised oysters of extraordinary size and delicacy." (The original family name was L'Escuyer; they arrived from Paris in 1658.) The mill was used for grinding grain used in the Pierrepont family (into which the Luquers married) distillery nearby.
Wonder if there are Luquers still around somewhere? Are they still rich? Still hard to pronounce?
Thanks for this. I always love this sort of background.
ReplyDeleteNicholas was a lucky man to have lived to be 154 years old!
ReplyDeleteWha...? Luquer was originally Luqueer. See here http://abrooklynlife.com/2005/09/the-luquer-stre.html.
ReplyDeleteSo is the person and the farm you are referring to a Luqueer?
Alexuma, yes, I've heard of the case made for the original spelling being Luqueer. I'm sure there's something to it, but every old newspaper account I've found of the family has the spelling "Luquer." I think the spelling Luqueer made have something to do with the the pronunciation of the family's original name, L'Escuyer.
ReplyDeleteI just came across this searching for my family history. Thats cool because I am probably related but definately not rich. My last name is LeQuia... originally L'Escuyer. My family came from France to Canada and then to the United States.
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