Arnold van Rhijn (d. 1872) was the husband of Agnes van Rhijn and the father to Oscar van Rhijn. He is often mentioned by his wife and sister-in-law Ada to their niece Marian Brook.
Biography[]
Arnold was a wealthy investment banker from the Dutch-American Van Rhijn family of New York. He shares his name with an ancestor who founded their family's banking business in 1797, the United Manhattan Trust.
Around 1842, he proposed to Agnes Brook and she later accepted him given the financial instability she and her younger sister faced caused by their elder brother's mismanagement of their inheritance.
In 1850, Mr. Van Rhijn bought lots in Upper Manhattan believing it to be a wise investment as the city developed further north. He also had his primary residence with Agnes, a brownstone house on East 61st Street built on one of these lots.
Oscar is said to be his only child with Agnes who survived to adulthood. It was his sister-in-law Ada who was present at his son's birth rather than himself. His wife was not on first name basis with him and Ada describes him as someone 'you did not want to be alone with', both overall implying him to be a difficult person.
Arnold died in 1872 of a cause that has yet to disclosed.