Henry Louis de Koven (1784-1840)
Shipping Merchant & the 1st President of the Middlesex County Bank, Connecticut
He was born in Middletown, but in the year after his birth his father either deserted the family or returned to Hanover. His mother obtained a divorce in 1788 and remarried Colonel Ralph Isaacs, who came from a wealthy shipping family. Henry also became involved in merchant shipping and in 1830 he was elected the first president of the Middlesex County Bank. His house (pictured) still stands at 27 Washington Street, Middletown, Connecticut. It was built in 1791 for Captain Benjamin Williams. De Koven bought the house in 1818, paying $3,600, and it remained in the de Koven family until 1900. He married Margaret, daughter of Jacob Sebor, Shipping Merchant, and maternal granddaughter of John Still Winthrop. They had 10-children.
