Mary Wilson Goelet
Mary Wilson Goelet | |
---|---|
Born | Mary Rita Wilson December 4, 1855 Loudon, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | February 23, 1929 New York City, U.S. | (aged 73)
Spouse | |
Children | Mary Goelet Robert Wilson Goelet |
Parent(s) | Richard Thornton Wilson Melissa Clementine Johnston |
Relatives | Richard Wilson Jr. (brother) Grace Vanderbilt (sister) George Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe (grandson) |
Mary Rita Goelet (née Wilson; December 12, 1855 – February 23, 1929), known as May Goelet, was an American socialite and member of a family known as "the marrying Wilsons".
Early life
May was born on December 12, 1855, in
May and her siblings were known in society as "the marrying Wilsons" due to their marriages to the wealthiest and most prominent families of the day.
Among her siblings was sister Belle, who married Sir
Society life
In 1892, May and Ogden were included in
Residences
May and Ogden owned a townhouse at 608
In 1892, the Goelet's commissioned Ochre Court, a châteauesque mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. The home was built at a cost of $4.5 million and was the second largest mansion in Newport after nearby The Breakers, both designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt.[13] In 1947, her son donated Ochre Court to the Sisters of Mercy for the formation of Salve Regina College.[10]
Personal life
In 1877, May married Ogden Goelet (1846–1897). Ogden was the son of Sarah (née Ogden) Goelet and Robert Goelet,[14] both of whom were from prominent New York families and among the wealthiest in America due to their vast real estate holdings.[15] Ogden and his older brother Robert (himself the father of Robert Walton Goelet) were real estate developer who managed the estate of their father and uncle.[16] Together, they were the parents of two children:[17]
- Lady Anne Emily Spencer-Churchill, daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Vane.[23]
- Robert Wilson Goelet (1880–1966), who built Glenmere mansion. In 1904, he married Marie Elise Whelen (1880–1949). They divorced in 1914 (she remarried to Henry Clews Jr.) and he married Donna Fernanda (née di Villa Rosa) Riabouchinsky (1885–1982) in 1919. They divorced in 1924 he married for the third time to Roberta Willard (1891–1949) in 1925.[12]
May's husband died in 1897 aboard his yacht in the town of Cowes in the Isle of Wight after over five years spent abroad.[11][24] In his will, he left his entire estate to his May and their two children.[25] She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx alongside her husband.[26] She lived for another 32 years until her death in New York City on February 23, 1929.[17] After her death, her daughter inherited $3,000,000 from the Goelet estate.[27]
Descendants
Through her daughter's marriage to the
Through her son Robert, she was the grandmother of four grandchildren, including Ogden Goelet (1907–1969), who married three times;[33] Peter Goelet (1911–1986); Robert Wilson Goelet, Jr. (1921–1989), who married twice, Jane Potter Monroe (they divorced), and Lynn Merrick in 1949 (they divorced in 1956); Mary Eleanor Goelet (b. 1927)[34] who married (and later divorced) James Eliot Cross in 1949.[35]
References
- Time magazine. January 19, 1953. Archived from the originalon December 22, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 9780688103866. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Grace Vanderbilt Wed In City Chapel. Becomes Bride of Henry G. Davis 3d, With Patrolman as a Witness. Church Ceremony Later. Cornelius Jr. Declares Family Refuses Forgiveness. Honeymoon in Far West. Grace Vanderbilt Wed In City Chapel". The New York Times. June 29, 1927. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- New York Times. January 8, 1953. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
- ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Nicholls, Charles Wilbur de Lyon (1904). The Ultra-fashionable Peerage of America: An Official List of Those People who Can Properly be Called Ultra-fashionable in the United States. New York: George Harjes, Publisher. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ Miller, Tom (16 April 2012). "The Lost 1884 Ogden Goelet Mansion -- No. 608 Fifth Avenue". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ a b Bernier, Maria (2008). "Guide to the Goelet Family Papers" (PDF). library.salve.edu. Salve Regina University. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ a b "DEATH OF OGDEN GOELET; American Millionaire Expires on His Yacht, Mayflower, at Anchor in Cowes Roads. | ILL FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS | He Worried over Family Affairs, Particularly the Proposed Marriage of His Daughter to the Duke of Manchester". The New York Times. 28 August 1897. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ a b Foreman, John (14 November 2012). "Big Old Houses: A Better Fate Than Many". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "Ochre Court". Salve Regina University. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society: Advanced Sheets, First Series. New York City: Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1902. p. 28. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "FUNERAL OF ROBERT GOELET". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- New York Times. May 3, 1941. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ^ a b "MRS. OGDEN GOELET DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Duchess of Roxburghe's Mother Long Noted for Her Lavish Entertaining. WAS HOSTESS TO ROYALTY Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, Among Guests--Sister of Mrs. Cornellus Vanderbilt and R.T. Wilson. Her Hospitality. Duchess of Roxburghe Daughter". The New York Times. 24 February 1929. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "DUCHESS LEFT FORTUNE; Roxburghe Estate Was Founded by Money of American Heiress". The New York Times. 21 November 1937. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ Times, Wireless To The New York (27 April 1937). "DOWAGER DUCHESS OF ROXBURGHE DIES; New York Heiress Was a Close Friend of King George V and Queen Mary". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (3 September 1903). "DUKE OF ROXBURGHE TO WED MISS GOELET | Engagement Announced in London and Confirmed at Newport. | NEW YORK WEDDING EXPECTED | It is Believed the Couple Will Be Married Here in the Autumn - The Duke Now Mrs. Goelet's Guest". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "THE ROXBURGHE WEDDING; Private Rehearsal Held at St. Thomas's Church. Programme of Today's Ceremony -- Simple Reception to Follow at the Goelet Residence -- Some of the Gifts". The New York Times. 10 November 1903. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "MOTHER AND SISTER OF ROXBURGHE HERE; Duchess Denies Story of Objection to American Brides. Plans for the Wedding Complete -- The Decorations at the Church and Home of the Bride". The New York Times. 8 November 1903. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ Quinault 2004.
- ^ "GOELET'S BODY AT NEWPORT". The New York Times. 16 September 1897. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "WILL OF OGDEN GOELET; Except for Two Legacies, His Entire Estate Is Left to His Widow and Children. NO PUBLIC BEQUEST IS MADE No Charity to Benefit by It -- How the Estate Is Divided Between the Widow and the Two Minor Children". The New York Times. 29 September 1897. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "FUNERAL OF OGDEN GOELET.; Services Held on the Yacht Mayflower in Newport Harbor". The New York Times. September 17, 1897. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ Times, Wireless To The New York (7 August 1929). "DUCHESS INHERITS FORTUNE; Former Miss Goelet Receives $3,000,000 From Mother's Estate". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (6 January 1954). "DUKE OF ROXBURGHE MARRIES IN LONDON". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "Obituary: Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe". Telegraph.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (6 January 1954). "DUKE OF ROXBURGHE MARRIES IN LONDON". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (19 November 1954). "Son to Duchess of Roxburghe". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (27 September 1974). "George Innes‐Ker, Ninth Duke Of Roxburghe, Dies in Scotland". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "OGDEN GOELET, SON OF FINANCIER HERE; Heir to Real Estate Holdings Dies in His 62d Year". The New York Times. 10 October 1969. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (4 September 1927). "Goelet Infant Is Named Mary". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "James Cross, Gulf Stream Commissioner". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
External links
- The Geolet Building at 608 Fifth Avenue, built on the site of her New York City residence by her son after her death.
- Guide to the Goelet Family Papers at Salve Regina University.