Marion Graves Anthon Fish
| Marion Graves Anthon Fish | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 8, 1853 New York City, New York |
| Died |
May 25, 1915 Glenclyffe, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Other names | "Mamie" |
| Spouse(s) | Stuyvesant Fish[1] |
Marion Graves Anthon "Mamie" Fish (June 8, 1853 – May 25, 1915) was a socialite and self-styled "fun-maker" of the Gilded Age. She and her husband Stuyvesant Fish maintained stately homes in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island.
Early life
"Mamie", as she was called, was the daughter of William Henry Anthon (1827 – 75) a successful lawyer and Staten Island assemblyman. She only received a rudimentary education and, by her own admission, could barely read and write.[2] On June 1, 1876 she married Stuyvesant Fish, the director of the National Park Bank of New York City and president of the Illinois Central Railroad.[3]
Society
Mamie ruled as one of the so-called Triumvirate of American Gilded Age society, along with Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and Tessie Oelrichs.[4] She became a notable leader of high society in New York City at her townhouse at 25 East 78th Street, at their stately home Glenclyffe in New York State, and her Newport, RI mansion ’’Crossways’’ by virtue of her quick wit and sharp tongue. Grandees attending her dinner parties would be greeted with the occasional insult ""Make yourself perfectly at home, and believe me, there is no one who wishes you there more heartily than I do." One man was greeted "Oh, how do you do! I had quite forgotten I asked you!"[5]
In collusion with her antics, Harry Lehr often served as a co-planner of outrageous parties, such as the one given in honor of "Prince DelDrago of Corsica", who turned out to be a well-dressed monkey. (Given too much champagne, the monkey proceeded to climb the chandelier and throw light bulbs at the guests)[6] At another of her parties, dancers holding peanuts would feed an elephant she rented as they danced by it.[7] Mrs. Fish' cattiness respected no rank, for when Theodore Roosevelt's wife sought to keep a frugal household, "Mamie" Fish was quoted as condescendingly saying of Mrs. Roosevelt "It is said [she] dresses on three hundred dollars a year, and she looks it."[8]
Death and Legacy
She died on May 25, 1915 and is buried near Glenclyffe at the Church of St. Philip-in-the-Highlands.[9] Her Newport "summer cottage", "Crossways", is now a condominium.[10]
Notes
Sources
- "Crossways". The Gilded Age Era. Web. October 27, 2014. http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/07/crossways-stuyvesant-fish-cottage.html
- Dalton, Kathleen. "Theodore Roosevelt, Knickerbocker Aristocrat" New York History, Vol. 67, No. 1 (JANUARY 1986), 39-65.
Published by: New York State Historical Association. Web. October 21, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23178766
- Gavan, Terrence. 'The Barons of Newport: A Guide to the Gilded Age'. Newport: Pineapple Publications, 1998. ISBN 0-929249-06-2
- Marian Graves "Mamie" Anthon Fish. Web. october 21, 2014. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46494627
- Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, née Marion Anthon, a.k.a. Mamie, New York Social Diary. New York Social Diary, 2013. Web. July 28, 2014. http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1907575
- ‘’Notable and Fanciful Quotes: “Magnificent Mamie” Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish’’. The Esoteric Curiosa: Knowledge Is Power. 2010. Web. October 19, 2014 http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2010/07/notable-and-fanciful-quotes-magnificent.html
- Vanderbilt II, Arthur T., Fortune's Children. Morrow: 1989. ISBN 0-688-07279-8