Henry L. Atherton

[1] His father, Colonel Abel Willard Atherton (1777–1821) was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts,[5] and served under General James Irish III.

[6] Intent on making his fortune, he left Maine for New York City, where he specialized in the import of silk and dry goods along the Hudson River, setting up a location at 48 Broad Street, prior to 1847.

[8] His business interests eventually diversified away from trading in merchandise, and into printing, and fire and life insurance, along with a number of realty projects in New York City from the 1850s onwards.

[13] Atherton and this wealthy syndicate had been inspired by the recently deceased landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing, and set about planning a suburban residential development in Hudson Hill, as a utopia in the style and tradition of Llewellyn Park in New Jersey.

[9][14] Intent on having a fine Riverdale estate, Atherton appointed the architect, Thomas S. Wall to design his new residence.

[19] Although Atherton retired from private enterprise as a merchant and importer, he continued as an investor for the next ten years, holding stock in numerous companies.

[21] At the age of sixty-five, he entered into public service as a diplomat, replacing Andrew Cone[22] as consul of the United States in Pernambuco, Brazil from 1880.

[24] His consular report relating to an alleged Brazilian cancer cure was dispatched to Washington, D.C. during 1884,[25] and was presented to the United States Congress the following year.

[28] In 1990, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to create the Riverdale Historic District, bound roughly by 252nd and 254th Streets and Palisade and Independence Avenues.

[29] As of 2022, the Henry L. Atherton Villa, located at West 252 Street is the private residence of renowned poet and art collector, Stanley Moss.

[41][42] His entire estate remained in dispute for almost thirteen years, and his will was proven at the Surrogate's Courthouse in New York City, on February 9, 1909, with Henry Atherton Forster as the primary beneficiary.