Mary Wilson Goelet Explained

Birth Name:Mary Rita Wilson
Birth Date:4 December 1855
Birth Place:Loudon, Tennessee, U.S.
Death Place:New York City, U.S.
Parents: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 (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 Loudon, Tennessee. She was the oldest surviving child born to Richard Thornton Wilson and Melissa Clementine (née Johnston) Wilson.[1] Her father, who has been referred to as a "war profiteer" for his actions during and following the Civil War, moved the family north after the War and became a prominent New York banker.

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 Michael Henry Herbert, the younger brother of the 13th Earl of Pembroke, and youngest sister, Grace, who became the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt III.[2] [3] Her brothers were banker Richard Thornton Wilson Jr., who married Marion Steedman Mason; and Marshall Orme Wilson, who married Carrie Astor, youngest daughter of William Astor and Caroline Webster Astor (known as "The Mrs. Astor" of the Astor family).[4]

Society life

In 1892, May and Ogden were included in Ward McAllister's Four Hundred, purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[5] [6] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[7] May was known as one of the viceregal leaders of the Ultra-fashionable 150, among Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Ogden Mills, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.[8]

Residences

May and Ogden owned a townhouse at 608 Fifth Avenue (located on the southwest corner of 49th and Fifth) in New York City,[9] around the corner from a second house at 4 West 49th Street. The family’s stables were at 7 East 52nd Street.[10] The Goelets also had a villa in Nice, France, and when in London, they resided at Wimbourne House. After her death, her son, acknowledging the change in the neighborhood from residential to commercial, tore down the family home in New York City and commissioned Victor L.S. Hafner to design 608 Fifth Avenue.

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.[11] 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,[12] both of whom were from prominent New York families and among the wealthiest in America due to their vast real estate holdings.[13] 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.[14] Together, they were the parents of two children:

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.[21] [22] In his will, he left his entire estate to his May and their two children.[23] She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx alongside her husband.[24] She lived for another 32 years until her death in New York City on February 23, 1929.[25] After her death, her daughter inherited $3,000,000 from the Goelet estate.[26]

Descendants

Through her daughter's marriage to the Duke of Roxburghe, she was the grandmother of George Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe (1913–1974), who succeeded his father's Dukedom in 1932.[27] In 1935, he married Lady Mary Evelyn Hungerford Crewe-Milnes, the daughter of the Marquess of Crewe. The childless marriage ended in divorce in 1953,[28] and in 1954, he remarried to Margaret Elizabeth McConnel,[29] with whom he had two children, Guy David Innes-Ker, 10th Duke of Roxburghe (b. 1954)[30] and Lord Robert Anthony Innes-Ker (b. 1959).[31]

Through her son Robert, she was the grandmother of four grandchildren, including Ogden Goelet (1907–1969), who married three times;[32] 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)[33] who married (and later divorced) James Eliot Cross in 1949.[34]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Quality . https://web.archive.org/web/20081222123135/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820840,00.html . dead . December 22, 2008 . . January 19, 1953 . May 4, 2010.
  2. News: 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 . May 4, 2010.
  3. News: Mrs. C. Vanderbilt Dies At Home Here. Leader of New York, Newport Society for Many Years Was Hostess to Royal Figures . . January 8, 1953 . 2011-05-28 .
  4. Book: Vanderbilt. Arthur T.. Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. 1991. HarperCollins. 9780688103866. 28 March 2018. en.
  5. News: McAllister. Ward. 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.. 26 March 2017. The New York Times. 16 February 1892. en.
  6. Book: Patterson . Jerry E. . The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age . 2000 . Random House Incorporated . 9780847822089 . 223 . 13 June 2018 . en.
  7. Book: Keister. Lisa A.. Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. 2005. Cambridge University Press. 9780521536677. 36. 20 October 2017. en.
  8. Book: Nicholls. Charles Wilbur de Lyon. The Ultra-fashionable Peerage of America: An Official List of Those People who Can Properly be Called Ultra-fashionable in the United States. 1904. George Harjes, Publisher. New York. 7–8. 29 November 2016. en.
  9. News: Miller . Tom . The Lost 1884 Ogden Goelet Mansion -- No. 608 Fifth Avenue . 9 September 2018 . Daytonian in Manhattan . 16 April 2012.
  10. Web site: Bernier . Maria . Guide to the Goelet Family Papers . library.salve.edu . . 9 September 2018 . 2008.
  11. Web site: Ochre Court . . February 16, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810094646/http://www.salve.edu/virtualtour/ochre-court . August 10, 2014 . dead .
  12. Book: Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society: Advanced Sheets, First Series. 1902. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. New York City. 28. 29 November 2016. en.
  13. News: FUNERAL OF ROBERT GOELET.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times.
  14. News: Robert W. Goelet Dies In Home At 61. Corporation Director, Owner of Large Realty Holdings Here, Succumbs to Heart Attack. He Inherited $60,000,000. Sportsman, a Leader in Social Circles in Newport and New York, Kin of Early Settlers . . May 3, 1941 . 2010-07-26 .
  15. News: DUCHESS LEFT FORTUNE; Roxburghe Estate Was Founded by Money of American Heiress. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 21 November 1937.
  16. News: Times. Wireless To The New York. DOWAGER DUCHESS OF ROXBURGHE DIES; New York Heiress Was a Close Friend of King George V and Queen Mary. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 27 April 1937.
  17. News: Times. Special To The New York. 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.. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 3 September 1903.
  18. News: 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.. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 10 November 1903.
  19. News: 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.. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 8 November 1903.
  20. Web site: Foreman. John. Big Old Houses: A Better Fate Than Many. New York Social Diary. 29 November 2016. 14 November 2012.
  21. News: 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.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times. 28 August 1897.
  22. News: GOELET'S BODY AT NEWPORT.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times. 16 September 1897.
  23. News: 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.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times. 29 September 1897.
  24. News: FUNERAL OF OGDEN GOELET.; Services Held on the Yacht Mayflower in Newport Harbor.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times. September 17, 1897.
  25. News: 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.. 29 November 2016. The New York Times. 24 February 1929.
  26. News: Times. Wireless To The New York. DUCHESS INHERITS FORTUNE; Former Miss Goelet Receives $3,000,000 From Mother's Estate.. 28 November 2016. The New York Times. 7 August 1929.
  27. News: Times. Special To The New York. DUKE OF ROXBURGHE MARRIES IN LONDON. 13 April 2017. The New York Times. 6 January 1954.
  28. News: Obituary: Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe. Telegraph.
  29. News: Times. Special To The New York. DUKE OF ROXBURGHE MARRIES IN LONDON. 12 January 2017. The New York Times. 6 January 1954.
  30. News: Times. Special To The New York. Son to Duchess of Roxburghe. 12 January 2017. The New York Times. 19 November 1954.
  31. News: Times. Special To The New York. George Innes‐Ker, Ninth Duke Of Roxburghe, Dies in Scotland. 12 January 2017. The New York Times. 27 September 1974.
  32. News: OGDEN GOELET, SON OF FINANCIER HERE; Heir to Real Estate Holdings Dies in His 62d Year. 16 April 2017. The New York Times. 10 October 1969.
  33. News: Times. Special To The New York. Goelet Infant Is Named Mary.. 16 April 2017. The New York Times. 4 September 1927.
  34. News: James Cross, Gulf Stream Commissioner. 16 April 2017. Sun Sentinel. en.

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