George Tuttle Brokaw


George Tuttle Brokaw was an American lawyer and sportsman.

Early life

He was born in the Elberon section of Long Branch, New Jersey, a son of Isaac Vail Brokaw, who with his brother, William, owned the New York City-based Brokaw Brothers clothing stores from 1856 until his death in 1914. His elder brother Irving Brokaw was a national ice skating champion and competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth in the men's competition.
As the eldest child, George inherited the right to live for life in the Brokaw Mansion at 1 East 79th Street in Manhattan, and later fought with his brother, Howard C. Brokaw, over his plans to demolish the mansion.

Career

Educated in the Cutler School; then Princeton University, graduating in 1902 with a BA, and New York Law School, graduating in 1911 with a LLB. He was admitted to the bar in 1912 and continued his legal education with an LLM degree from the University of Toledo College of Law, where he was first in his class, graduating in 1906. Toledo Law's weekly newspaper is still named after him: Toledo's Brokaw Edition. There is a portrait in the Brokaw Editions office.

Personal life

On August 10, 1923, Brokaw married the writer, Clare Boothe in Greenwich, Connecticut. According to Boothe, Brokaw was an abusive alcoholic, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1929. Together, they were the parents of Ann Clare Brokaw, who as a 19-year-old senior at Stanford University, was killed in an automobile accident.
On January 10, 1931, Brokaw married Frances Ford Seymour in a small New York City wedding. Together, Brokaw and Seymour had a daughter, Frances de Villers Brokaw.
Brokaw died of a heart attack on May 28, 1935. After his death, Frances Ford Seymour married actor Henry Fonda in 1936; the couple had two children, Jane and Peter Fonda.