The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 12, March 25, 2007, Article 14

C. WYLLYS BETTS IN SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK

The Hamptons.com web site has posted a nice history article by Mary
Cummings titled "Southampton Village: The Transition to Stylish Resort".
 The article includes some information about numismatic personality C.
Wyllys Betts, author of the classic 1894 reference "American Colonial
History Illustrated by Contemporary Medals":

"The first of the Betts brothers to arrive was Frederic, a lawyer
whose clients included J.P. Morgan & Co. and a long list of corporate
giants.  C. Wyllys Betts, also a lawyer, arrived not long afterward
and both bought land at the south end of the lake adjoining the ocean,
thus making them “the fortunate possessors of the most valuable building
sites in Southampton,” according to one of their contemporaries,
William S. Pelletreau."

"Well-heeled Yale men, the Betts brothers were prominent in promoting
the various improvements championed by the SVIS (Southampton Village
Improvement Association). Among C. Wyllys's other interests were
numismatics (he was co-editor of the American Journal of Numismatics)
and English furniture. Legend has it that he shipped so much furniture
back to Southampton after buying sprees in the British Isles that
Frederic felt obliged to build his brother six houses to accommodate
his extravagant purchases. Whether inspired by furniture overload or
something else—a desire to be surrounded by friends, perhaps, or to
turn a profit on his real estate investments?—six cottages went up on
Betts land, all spoken for during the summer of 1880, according to a
report in the Evening Post."

The read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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