Crimmins’ father had started a very successful construction business which would be involved in the construction of the subway, the Croton Water Works, elevated trains, etc. John began working for the family business at the age of 20 and became incredibly successful. After living in the home for over a decade, Crimmins purchased the neighboring brownstone on the left and hired architect William Schickel to merge them together. By 1898, the renovations were complete, and this massive beaux-arts mansion stood in their place.
Despite being on the Upper East Side during the height of the Gilded Age and being successful, the Crimmins family were Catholic and would not have been members of what we think of as Gilded Age high society. This actually led me down a slight rabbit hole trying to figure out if there were any Catholics that were part of the 400, and the answer is kind of. It looks like two families were, or used to be, the Learys, who were long-time friends of the Astors, and some members of the Drexel family. The Crimmins family did a lot to raise money for the construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, including funding an entire chapel, as well as donating to the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. His contributions to the church would attract the attention of Pope Leo XIII, who made John a knight of St. Gregory. When John Crimmins passed away in 1917, his body was brought in a procession from the home to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for his funeral mass.
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