How did Jacob Aaron Westervelt die?
Jacob Westervelt (sheriff)
Jacob Westervelt (1794–1881) is often confused with his brother-in-law John Jacob V.B. Westervelt (1805–1866), who was a Deputy Sheriff under him, and subsequently High Sheriff of New York City himself too (1846–1849), as well as Assistant Alderman from the 16th Ward (1844–1846). Another namesake is Jacob Aaron Westervelt (1800–1879), the shipbuilder, Alderman from the 13th Ward and later Mayor of New York City (1853–1855).
Anderson Cooper
Cooper's older brother, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, died by suicide on July 22, 1988, at age 23, by jumping from the 14th-floor terrace of Vanderbilt's New York City penthouse apartment. Gloria Vanderbilt later wrote about her son's death in the book "A Mother's Story," in which she expresses her belief that the suicide was caused by a psychotic episode induced by an allergy to the anti-asthma prescription drug salbutamol. Anderson cites Carter's suicide for sparking his interest in journalism.
Cooper was educated at the Dalton School, a private co-educational university preparatory day school in New York City. At age 17, after graduating from Dalton a semester early, Cooper traveled around Africa for several months on a "survival trip". He contracted malaria on the trip and was hospitalized in Kenya. Describing the experience, Cooper wrote "Africa was a place to forget and be forgotten in." Cooper went on to attend Yale University, where he resided in Trumbull College, and was inducted into the Manuscript Society, majoring in political science and graduating with a B.A. in 1989.