New York Times, September 21, 1935 Born: June 3, 1856
Died: September 21, 1935
Married: Agnes Louis Macdonough
Children: Mrs. Raymond Sontag, John G. Agar, Jr.,William Macdonough Agar, Herbert Sebastian Agar, Philip Sylvester Agar
John Giraud Agar was a New York attorney, and leader in the political reform movement in New York state. He owned "Camp Grigog the large and attractive colonial-type place across from Eagle Island, on the east shore," (Gull Point) that was later subdivided. He was for many years was president of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.
New York Times, September 21, 1935
JOHN G. AGAR, 79, LAWYER, IS DEAD
Ex-Member of Westchester County Park Board Once a Reform Leader Here.
PIONEER IN CONSERVATION
Held High Position in Children's Society Belonged to Many Clubs and Civic Groups.
Special to The New York Times.
NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y. Sept. 20. - John Giraud Agar, New York attorney, former member of the Westchester County Park Commission and former leader in the reform political movement in New York, died this morning at his residence, Fair Oaks, at Premium Point here, after a long illness. He was 79 years old.
Mr. Agar is survived by a widow, the former Agnes Louis Macdonough; a daughter, Mrs. Raymond Sontag of Princeton, N. J., and three sons, William Macdonough Agar, headmaster of the Newman School, Lakewood, N. J.; Herbert Sebastian Agar, author, and Philip Sylvester Agar, a member of the New York bar. There are six grandchildren.
Mrs. Agar's father was James Macdonough of San Francisco, one of the early settlers of California, and her mother was Catherine O'Brien, sister of William O'Brien, noted financier. She was married to Mr. Agar on Feb. 18, 1892.
Funeral services for Mr. Agar, which will be private, will take place in the chapel of the Paulist Fathers Church, Columbus Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street, New York, on Tuesday.
A Knight of St. Gregory.
In June, 1916, Mr. Agar was made a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory by the late Pope Benedict XV. He was formerly one of the trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
He had served also as a trustee of the Grand Central Art Galleries and was a member of the Municipal Art Society from 1906 to 1908. Formerly he was a member of the Committee on Character and Fitness of the New York Bar.
Mr. Agar for many years was president of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks. He also had served as vice president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and as a member of the welfare committee. In the last two years be had resigned from many organizations because of his desire to lessen his activities.
Until the beginning of his last illness Mr. Agar was a member of the Union, Century, University, Metropolitan, Manhattan, Riding, Piping Rock, Turf and Field and Bankers Clubs of New York, the Pacific Union Club of San Francisco, the Metropolitan of Washington, the Arts of Washington and many others.
Mr. Agar formerly lived at 944 Fifth Avenue, but he had not lived in the city in recent years.
A Native of New Orleans
Mr. Agar, on his mother's side, was descended from families prominent in the early history of the South. William Agar, his father, was a member of one of the oldest families in County Carlow, Ireland. After the father had gone to New Orleans to live, his unusual ability made him a leader in the business world. Mr. Agar's mother before her marriage was Miss Theresa Price of Louisville, Ky., a descendant of an early settler of that State.
Mr. Agar was born in New Orleans on June 3, 1856. His early education was received from private tutors. In 1872 he was graduated from the preparatory school of the University of Georgetown and received the degree of B. A. from the university four years later. Georgetown also made him a Master of Arts in 1888, a Doctor of Philosophy in 1889 and a Doctor of Laws in 1910.
After his graduation Mr. Agar studied biology and moral and mental science in Europe for two years. In 1878 he entered the Columbia College Law School, graduating two years later. He had made his home in New York or its vicinity ever since.
Mr. Agar was an independent Democrat, standing for uncompromising honesty and efficiency in the administration of public affairs. His independence in politics, together with his marked ability as a lawyer even while still a young man, caused President Garfield, a Republican, to appoint him as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1881. He resigned the next year and returned to private practice as senior member of the law firm of Agar, Ely & Fulton, a connection he maintained up to his death.
The cause of reform in municipal administration early enlisted Mr. Agar's ardent interest. For years he was one of the most earnest advocates of measures leading to civic righteousness in the management of New York City's business. He was one of the first and most prominent members of the People's Municipal League.
Fought for Australian Ballot
During the State campaign of 1891 Mr. Agar was chairman of the league's executive committee, and it was largely through his efforts that the Australian system of voting was ultimately passed by the Legislature, thus doing away with many of the grosser forms of election frauds.
Mayor W. L. Strong, a Republican, named Mr. Agar in October, 1896, a school commissioner. As a member of the reform majority on the Board of Education he was largely instrumental in removing the city's vast public school system —at least, partially—from politics, and in obtaining appropriations that approached the adequate for the greatly needed increase in school accommodations. At the time of his resignation in October, 1899. Mr. Agar said:
"The real reason why I do not remain on the school board is because I cannot accomplish any good. The majority has relegated those of us who have been striving for reforms to insignificant committee places, and it is not worth my while wasting any more time there. All this talk about Tammany having been active in putting up new schoolhouses and making improvements on a generous scale is false."
Mr. Agar was a staunch advocate of the enforcement of the civil service law in the appointment and promotion of teachers and the maintenance of a high standard of efficiency.
He was president of the Reform Club from 1906 to 1908, the years when it battled unceasingly for reform of the tariff, currency, and municipal and civil service. All of the objects for which he fought were later achieved.
In 1905 Mr. Agar was vice president of the National Civic Federation. From 1906 to 1908 he was Lieutenant Commander and Judge Advocate on the staff of the Captain of the State Naval Militia. He served as president of the Municipal Art Society in 1908 and 1909 and as president of the National Arts Club the next year.
Mr. Agar became a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1918 and of the Farmers Loan and Trust Company three years later. He was a member of the War Department's Commission on Training Camp Activities in 1918 and 1919, and during the same two years served on the United War work Campaign, Inc., and the Committee of Eleven. He became a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation in February, 1920, and of the Westchester County Transit Commission the next year. In 1922 he was named a member of the West Chester County Park Commission. He was secretary of the Alma Royalties Corporation, treasurer of the Macdonough Estate Company and president of the Warbeck Land Company. He was a minority stockholder in The New York Times Company.
