Marjorie Merriweather Post
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Marjorie Merriweather Post aka Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was a leading American socialite and the founder of General Foods, Inc. She was 27 when her father died, and she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company later becoming the wealthiest woman in America when her fortune reached approximately $250 million, more than 1 billion of todays dollars.
Marjorie Post was born in Springfield, Illinois, the daughter of C. W. Post and Ella Letitia Merriweather.
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[edit] Marriages
Post married four times. In 1905, she married investment banker Edward Bennett Close of Greenwich, Connecticut: They divorced in 1919. Their eldest daughter Adelaide married banker Augustus Riggs; their second daughter, Eleanor Post Close, later known in the media as Eleanor Post Hutton, married director Preston Sturges. By his second marriage, Edward Close would become the paternal grandfather of actress Glenn Close.
Secondly, she married, in 1920, Edward Francis Hutton, financier. In 1923, Edward Hutton became the chairman of the board of the Postum Cereal Company, and they developed a larger variety of food products, including Birdseye Frozen Foods. The company became the General Foods Corporation. Post and Hutton divorced in 1935. Their only child, Nedenia Marjorie, became an actress under the name Dina Merrill. Thirdly, she married, in 1935, Joseph E. Davies, a Washington lawyer: They divorced in 1955. The couple lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938, while he served as second American ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1951 their home, Hillwood on Long Island, New York, was sold to Long Island University for $200,000. It became C.W. Post College, now part of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
Her final marriage occurred in 1958 to Herbert A. May; May, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman, and former Master of Fox Hounds of The Rolling Rock Hunt Club in Ligonier, Pa. She divorced May in 1964, and subsequently reclaimed her full maiden name of Marjorie Merriweather Post.
[edit] Lifestyle
Marjorie Merriweather Post was also known for her lavish homes, the largest of which was Mar-A-Lago which is located in Palm Beach, Florida. Designed by Joseph Urban Mar-A-Lago was purchased from Post Family Trust by Donald Trump. Trump in turn had the 110,000 square foot (10,000 m²) house completely restored to its original state. Mar-A-Lago originally had 115 rooms, a 9-hole golf course and sits on a strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth. It is nicknamed the jewel of Palm Beach. Mrs. Post's other estate, Hillwood (Washington, D.C.) is operated as a museum displaying her French and Russian art collection featuring the work of Faberge, sevres porcelain, French furniture, tapestries, and paintings.
With her second husband, E. F. Hutton, she was the owner of Sea Cloud (Hussar II), the largest privately owned sea-going yacht in the world. Post also owned Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks, which she considered a "rustic retreat", with a fully staffed main lodge, and private guest cabins, each staffed with their own butlers. The Hutton's also owned Hillwood in Brookville, New York which later become the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Another home, which she shared with Joseph Davies in Washington, D.C. was called Tregaron.
Marjorie Post donated some of her jewelry to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.; it is displayed in the Harry Winston exhibit. Pieces in the collection include a pair of 20 carat (4 g) diamond earrings belonging to Marie Antoinette, a 275 carat (55 g) diamond and turquoise necklace and tiara set Napoleon I gave to his wife, Empress Marie Louise, a 30.82 carat (6.164 g) blue heart diamond ring, and an emerald and diamond necklace and ring belonging to Mexican emperor Maximilian.
Her donation of funds to construct field hospitals in France during World War I was recognized with the French government awarding her the Legion of Honor. In 1971 she was among the first three recipients of the Silver Fawn Award presented by the Boy Scouts of America.
The Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue, in Columbia, Maryland is named for her.
The Marjorie R. Post Park in Massapequa, New York has been incorrectly linked with the cereal heiress, but in fact that park was named for Marjorie R. Post (now Marjorie Toombs of Vermont who was the first woman elected to the board of the Town of Oyster Bay. There is no family connection between Marjorie R. Post and the cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.
[edit] External links
- Hillwood, Marjorie Merriweather Post Estate in Washington, D.C.
- West Palm West Historical Society
- The Sea Cloud
- Sea Cloud Statistics
[edit] References
- Rubin/Rubin Stuart, Nancy (1995). American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post. Villard. ISBN 0-679-41347-2.
