[5] On his retirement as Secretary of the American Legation in Paris, the French Government made him an officer of the Legion of Honor.

[5] After they returned from France, they spent much time in Newport, Rhode Island, where Jay was one of the most prominent New York residents.

[5] Jay died of heart disease on Christmas Day 1919, at his home, 960 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

[5] After a funeral at Trinity Church, he was buried in the John Jay Cemetery in Rye like his father before him.

[23] Through his eldest son Peter,[11] he was a grandfather of Emily Kane Jay (1911–1926) and Susan Mary Alsop (1918–2004).