Elizabeth Wharton Drexel

Elizabeth Wharton Drexel

Drexel in a 1905 portrait by Giovanni Boldini
Born April 22, 1868(1868-04-22)
Philadelphia
Died June 13, 1944(1944-06-13) (aged 76)
London
Spouse John Vinton Dahlgren I (?–1898)
Henry Symes Lehr
John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies
Children John Vinton Dahlgren II (1892–1964)
Parents Lucy Wharton (1841–1912)
Joseph William Drexel

Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (April 22, 1868 – June 13, 1944) was an American author and Manhattan socialite.[1]

Contents

Birth

She was the daughter of Lucy Wharton (1841–1912) and Joseph William Drexel.[2] Joseph was the son of Francis Martin Drexel, the immigrant ancestor of the Drexel banking family in the United States.

First marriage

Elizabeth married John Vinton Dahlgren I (1869–1899) on June 29, 1889. They had a son, John Vinton Dahlgren II (1892–1964). John was the son of Admiral John Adolph Dahlgren (1809–1870). During this marriage she made generous donations to Roman Catholic charities and to Georgetown University, Washington DC, who asked for her portrait, which was painted in 1899 by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947).

Second marriage

Elizabeth married Henry Symes Lehr (1869–1929), aka Harry Lehr in June 1901.[1][3] The marriage was never consummated.

In 1915 the Lehrs were in Paris, and Elizabeth worked for the Red Cross. They remained in Paris after World War I, where they bought in 1923 the Hôtel de Canvoie at 52, rue des Saints-Pères in the VIIe arrondissement. Harry Lehr died on January 3, 1929 of a brain malady in Baltimore.[4]

Third marriage

On May 25, 1936 she married John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies. His first wife had been Helen Vivien Gould.[5][6] He died on January 31, 1944.[7]

Death

She died in 1944 at the Hotel Shelton. She was buried in the Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University, which she and her first husband had built as a memorial to their son who died in infancy.[1]

Publications

References

  1. ^ a b c "Lady Decies, Widow of Irish Peer, Dies; Former Elizabeth Drexel of Philadelphia Was Once the Wife of Harry Lehr.". New York Times. June 14, 1944. 
  2. ^ "Mrs. J.W. Drexel Dead. Former Social Leader of Philadelphia and Mother of Mrs. Harry Lehr.". New York Times. January 26, 1912, Friday. 
  3. ^ a b "Record of the Rich". Time (magazine). August 5, 1935. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,711722,00.html?iid=chix-sphere. Retrieved 2007-07-21. "In Paris in 1929 Mrs. Elizabeth Drexel Lehr heard that her husband was dead. To the daughter of Philadelphia Banker Joseph William Drexel, that event meant that the "tragic farce" of a 28-year marriage had ended, that she was now free to tell her story. A bitter, disillusioned book, "King Lehr" is memorable for the lurid light it throws on U. S. Society of the Gilded Age, may confidently be opened as one of the most startling and scandalously intimate records of life among the wealthy yet written by one of them." 
  4. ^ "Harry S. Lehr Dies. Once Social Leader. Succumbs To A Brain Malady In Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. Late Mrs. Astor's Adviser Noted For Daring And Originality Of His Parties. Married Mrs. J. V. Dahlgren, Heiress. Quickly Got Into Limelight. Furor Over "Monkey Dinner" Story. An Excellent Musician.". New York Times. January 4, 1929. "Baltimore, January 3, 1929. Harry Symes Lehr, for many years prominent in society of New York, Newport, Baltimore and Paris, died today of a brain disorder at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he had been a patient for several weeks." 
  5. ^ "People". Time (magazine). July 27, 1942. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802366,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-21. "Heavily engraved invitations sent out by Lady Decies (formerly Elizabeth Drexel of Philadelphia) sent the British Library of Information bustling about over a point of etiquette. Said the invitation: "Lady Elizabeth Decies (the Right Honorable Elizabeth Beresford, Baroness Decies) requests the pleasure of your company," etc. But Lady Decies, pointed out the B.L.I., is merely wife of a privy councillor of the lowest rank of the peerage (John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, Baron Decies). is therefore a "Lady," but not a "Right Honorable." Nor can she call herself "Lady Elizabeth," nor "Elizabeth, Lady," titles proper only to the daughter of an earl or better or the widowed mother of a baron or married baronet, or the widow of a knight." 
  6. ^ "Decies to Marry Mrs. Harry Lehr; Widow of New York Leader of Society to Become Bride of Irish Peer on May 23. Announcement in Paris. Bride-Elect Member of Drexel Family. Wrote Book, 'King Lehr and Gilded Age.'". New York Times. May 12, 1936, Tuesday. "Mrs. Henry Symes Lehr, widow of Harry Lehr, society leader in New York early in the century, will be married here on May 23 to John Graham Beresford, Lord Decies, Irish peer, according to an announcement made today." 
  7. ^ "Lord Decies dies in England at 77. Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911.". New York Times. February 2, 1944. 

Further reading

External links