on the role of Herman Melville's literary representative. During the unrest of the Chartist demonstrations, Brodhead was among many gentlemen sworn in as special constables. While posted to Great Britain, he also took the opportunity to take in performances on the London stage. With the election of Zachary Taylor as president, Bancroft's political appointment ended, and he and Brodhead returned to the United States in 1849. Later life From 1853 to 1857, he was naval officer of the port of New York. In 1855 he was asked by President Franklin Pierce to become Ambassador to Japan, a position he declined because he preferred to remain in New York. He was an active member of both the New York Historical Society and the St. Nicholas Society, and a trustee of Rutgers College from 1853 to 1873. on November 27, 1856 he married Eugenia Bloodgood at Grace Church (Manhattan). In 1867 he was appointed a Trustee of the Astor Library. He published several addresses and a scholarly History of the State of New York (2 vols., 1853–1871), generally considered the best for the brief period covered (1609-1690). When the first volume, which covers New Netherland, was published, George Bancroft wrote, "It is so full, so accurate, so marked by research and an honest love for historic truth, that we have only to bid him go and finish what he has so worthily begun." He died of pneumonia in New York City on 6 May 1873 and was interred in the Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan. Legacy "The Jacob Brodhead Prize" is a prize of $100 from a fund given by Reverend Jacob Brodhead, D.D., and his son J. Romyn Brodhead, LL.D., awarded annually to a Rutgers student in her or his junior or senior year who displays all-around excellence in Classics. Notes References Further reading John Romeyn Brodhead, "Address to the Clinton Hall Association", June 1854 External links Portrait of John Romeyn Brodhead by George Catlin at the Frick Collection 1814 births 1873 deaths 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers Writers from New York (state) Rutgers University alumni Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery Writers from Philadelphia American people of English descent Deaths from pneumonia in New York City American expatriates in the Netherlands Historians from Pennsylvania American Geographical Society American male non-fiction writers