Augustus E. (Augustus Ely) Silliman

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, on April 11, 1807, Augustus Ely Silliman went into business in New York at a young age and later became connected with the Merchants' Bank of New York City. Reference works describe him as a financier who served as the bank's president from 1857 to 1868 and helped establish the New York Clearing House Association in 1853.

He is also remembered as the author of A Gallop Among American Scenery, a work published in the 1840s and later reissued, which presents sketches of American scenes and military adventure. The book reflects an energetic, observant style and offers a window into how 19th-century readers experienced travel, place, and national identity.

Silliman died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1884. His name also lives on through the Silliman Memorial Lectures at Yale, created from a bequest he left in memory of his mother, Hepsa Ely Silliman.