Mahlon Day Sands (1842-1888)

He was born in New York City and was named for his maternal grandfather, Mahlon Day, a Quaker from New Jersey who became a prolific author and publisher of children's books. He began his career in his father's pharmaceutical importing business, A.B. Sands & Co., of which he became a partner. The firm was wound up in about 1870 when Sands retired from all active business. For several years he was secretary of the American Free Trade League of which his brother-in-law, Robert B. Minturn, Jr., was president, and he was one of the founders of the Knickerbocker Club. He was also on the Finance Committee of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.

He was described as, "a man of splendid physique, dark and handsome". An amusing anecdote was told of him by his great friend Frederick Townsend Martin: "I remember once... when Senator Conkling was laying down the law at a dinner in New York. Sands seemed somewhat distracted, which annoyed the speaker, who rapped the table sharply and said in acid accents - 'Young man, you're not a very good listener.' Mahon smiled sweetly at the Senator. 'Well, that depends,' said he, 'upon who's doing the talking.'" He was a member of the Union Club, Knickerbocker Club, and New York Yacht Club - and he was often seen in Newport. In London, he belonged to the Marlborough Club and the Reform Club, and he took his yacht Viking to the Cowes Regatta. He was well-known in the English country house set, and was an enthusiastic participant in country sports.

After the death of his first wife in 1868 he moved to Europe, living principally in London, first at Claridges Hotel before renting Clive Lodge in Queen's Gate, Kensington. He frequently travelled on the Continent, notably in Paris and on the Côte d'Azur, and always visited America once a year. By the time he was living at 26 St. George Street off Hanover Square in London he was in the habit of taking a daily ride along Rotten Row on the south side of Hyde Park but was killed when his horse stumbled and threw him from his saddle.

In 1865, he married Edith, daughter of Robert Bowne Minturn of the shipping firm Grinnell, Minturn & Co., the husband of the instigator behind the creation of New York's Central Park, and the owner of the world's fastest clipper, Flying Cloud. They had one daughter before she died at sea on her way to Calcutta. In 1872, at the Newport home of the bride's uncle - U.S. Vice-President Levi P. Morton - he married "Minnie" Hartpence, described as, "very prominent in the Prince of Wales' set in English society". It was the Prince of Wales who persuaded his wife to settle permanently in England from 1874. Frederick Townsend Martin described the Sands' as his "greatest friends in those days" and they were equally friendly with Ferdy Rothschild of Waddesdon Manor.

Minnie's portrait was painted by John Singer Sargent in 1893 and they were the parents of another daughter (the noted artist Ethel Sands) and two sons, both educated at Eton. Through his eldest daughter, Mahlon was the grandfather of Archibald Sinclair, Viscount Thurso, one of the largest landowners in Britain and Leader of the British Liberal Party (1935-45). He died leaving an estate worth several million dollars to his family.