Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt I

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt
Born (1877-10-20)October 20, 1877
New York City, New York, United States
Died May 7, 1915(1915-05-07) (aged 37)
Atlantic Ocean
Education St. Paul's School
Alma mater Yale University (1899)
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Ellen French
(m. 1901; div. 1908)
Margaret Emerson
(m. 1911; his death 1915)
Children William Henry Vanderbilt III
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Jr.
George Washington Vanderbilt III
Parent(s) Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Alice Claypoole Gwynne
Relatives See Vanderbilt family

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Sr. (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was an extremely wealthy American businessman and sportsman, and a member of the famous Vanderbilt family. He died on the RMS Lusitania.[1]

Life

Vanderbilt caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1907

Alfred was born in New York City, the third son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843–1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1845–1934). He attended the St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Yale University (Class of 1899),[2] where he was a member of Skull and Bones.[3]

Soon after graduation, Vanderbilt, with a party of friends, started on a tour of the world which was to have lasted two years. When they reached Japan on September 12, 1899, he received news of his father's sudden death and hastened home as speedily as possible to find himself, by his father's will, the head of his branch of the family.[2][3] His siblings were Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt (1869-1874), William Henry Vanderbilt II (1870–1892), Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (1873–1942), Gertrude Vanderbilt (1875–1942), Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880–1925) and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt (1886–1965). His eldest brother, William, had died in 1892 at age 22, and their father had disinherited Alfred's second oldest brother Neily due to his marriage to Grace Wilson, a young debutante of whom the elder Vanderbilts strongly disapproved for a variety of reasons. Alfred received the largest share of his father's estate, though it was also divided among his sisters and younger brother, Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt.[1]

Career

The Vanderbilt Hotel, built in 1913

Soon after his return to New York, Vanderbilt began working as a clerk in the offices of the New York Central Railroad, as preparation for entering into the councils of the company as one of its principal owners. Subsequently, he was chosen a director in other companies as well, among them the Fulton Chain Railway Company, Fulton Navigation Company, Raquette Lake Railway Company, Raquette Lake Transportation Company, and the Plaza Bank of New York. Vanderbilt was a good judge of real estate values and projected several important enterprises. On the site of the former residence of the Vanderbilt family, and including, also, several adjacent plots, he built the Vanderbilt Hotel at Park Avenue and 34th Street, New York, which he made his city home.[2][4]

Among Alfred Vanderbilt's many holdings were positions in the New York Central Railroad, Beech Creek Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, Michigan Central Railroad and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad as well as the Pullman Company.[5]

RMS Lusitania

On May 1, 1915,[6] Alfred Vanderbilt boarded the RMS Lusitania bound for Liverpool as a first class passenger.[7] It was a business trip, and he traveled with only his valet, Ronald Denyer, leaving his family at home in New York. On May 7, off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, German U-boat, U-20 torpedoed the ship, triggering a secondary explosion that sank the giant ocean liner within 18 minutes. Vanderbilt and Denyer helped others into lifeboats, and then Vanderbilt gave his lifejacket to save a female passenger. Vanderbilt had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra lifevest for her.[8] Failing to do so, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to even tie on to her himself, since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many consider his actions especially brave and gallant since he could not swim and he knew there were no other lifevests or lifeboats available. Because of his fame, several people on the Lusitania who survived the tragedy were observing him while events unfolded at the time, and so they took note of his actions. He and Denyer were among the 1198 passengers who did not survive the incident.[9] His body was never recovered.[10][11][12]

According to A. A. Hoehling and Mary Hoehling (in their study, The Last Voyage of the Lusitania) Vanderbilt's fate was ironic, as three years earlier he had made a last-minute decision not to return to the U.S. on RMS Titanic.[13] There has been some historical confusion as to which member of the Vanderbilt family was booked on the Titanic and recent studies have determined that George Washington Vanderbilt was actually booked to travel on the Titanic along with his wife Edith and daughter Cornelia, not Alfred Vanderbilt. (A Titanic Mystery by Eric Sauder and Brian Hawley).<[14]

Personal life

On January 11, 1901, Alfred Vanderbilt married Ellen "Elsie" French, in Newport, Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Francis Ormond French, and was close friends with Vanderbilt's sister, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who was married to Harry Payne Whitney.[3][15][16] Later that same year, on November 24, 1901, Elsie gave birth to their only child:

In March 1908, Elsie moved to her brother, Amos Tuck French's, home in Tuxedo Park, New York.[19] Shortly thereafter, a scandal erupted in April 1908 after Elsie filed for divorce, alleging adultery with Agnes O'Brien Ruíz, the wife of the Cuban attaché in Washington, D. C..[20][21][22] The publicity, which caused splits over whom to support,[23] ultimately led Agnes Ruíz to commit suicide in 1909.[24][25] Elsie, who remarried, died in Newport on February 27, 1948.

Vanderbilt spent considerable time in London after the divorce,[26] and remarried there, on December 17, 1911,[27][28] to the wealthy American divorcée Margaret Emerson (1884–1960).[29] She was the daughter of Captain Isaac Edward Emerson (1859–1931) and Emily Askew, and was heiress to the Bromo-Seltzer fortune.[30] Margaret had been married from 1902-1910 to Dr. Smith Hollins McKim (d. 1932),[31][32] a wealthy physician of Baltimore, Maryland.[33][34] Together, Alfred and Margaret had two children:

After Alfred's death aboard the Lusitania in 1915, Margaret bought a 316 acre estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, with a 47 room mansion. She remarried twice, first on June 12, 1918 in Lenox Raymond T. Baker (1875–1935), a politician with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Baker (1920–1975).[38] The claim for his estate was put forward Margaret, who by that point was already remarried. The net value of the estate, after the payment of all debts and funeral and administration expenses, was $15,594,836.32.[39] By the terms of his will, Margaret and his three sons would inherit $1,180,098.18. In addition, for their maintenance and for the support and comfort of his widow and children, he expended and contributed approximately $300,000 annually.[40][29][41]

Hobbies

Vanderbilt was a sportsman, and he particularly enjoyed fox hunting and coaching.[3][19] In the late 19th century, he and a number of other millionaires, such as James Hazen Hyde practiced the old English coaching techniques of the early 19th century. Meeting near Holland House in London, the coaching group would take their vehicle for a one-day, two-day, or longer trip along chosen routes through several counties, going to prearranged inns and hotels along the routes. Vanderbilt would frequently drive the coach, in perfectly appareled suit, a coachman or groom. He loved the outdoor experience.[24]

In 1901, he bought Sagamore Camp, on Sagamore Lake in the Adirondacks, from William West Durant.[42] He expanded and improved the property to include flush toilets, a sewer system, and hot and cold running water. He later added a hydroelectric plant and an outdoor bowling alley with an ingenious system for retrieving the balls. Other amenities included a tennis court, a croquet lawn, a 100,000 gallon reservoir, and a working farm.[1][43]

He also enjoyed fox hunting, and in the spring of 1915, he took a fateful trip via the RMS Lusitania, headed for England to purchase hunting dogs and horses.[1]

Memorials

A24 Memorial

A memorial was erected on the A24 London to Worthing Road in Holmwood, just south of Dorking. The inscription reads, "In Memory of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, a gallant gentleman and a fine sportsman who perished in the Lusitania May 7th 1915. This stone is erected on his favourite road by a few of his British coaching friends and admirers".

Another memorial to Vanderbilt is in a small park on Broadway in Newport, Rhode Island, where members of the Vanderbilt family spent their summers.

Ancestry

Bibliography

  1. 1 2 3 4 "VANDERBILT LEFT HIS WIFE AT HOME; | Wealthiest Youth in America Expected to Make Only a Short Stay Abroad. | BEST KNOWN AS HORSEMAN | Inherited $100,000,000 and Married Mrs. Smith Hollins McKim When Ellen French Divorced Him.". The New York Times. 8 May 1915. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3  Homans, James E., ed. (1918). "Vanderbilt, Alfred Gwynne". The Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: The Press Association Compilers, Inc.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "VANDERBILT ENGAGEMENT; Miss Elsie French to Become Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt's Wife. A Match Approved by the Late Cornelius Vanderbilt -- Young People Long in Love.". The New York Times. 29 April 1900. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Vanderbilt Hotel from New York City Heritage preservation center
  5. ↑ Vanderbilt, Arthur T., II (1989). Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07279-8.
  6. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (1 May 1915). "OFF FOR EUROPE TODAY. | Some of the Passengers on Five Steamships=The Arrivals.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Day at Queenstown.; HOW VANDERBILT AND OTHERS DIED". The New York Times. 10 May 1915. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Preston, Diane (May 2002). "Torpedoed! The Sinking of the Lusitania". Smithsonian Magazine. pp. 64–65.
  9. ↑ "VANDERBILT'S BODY IS REPORTED FOUND; Secretary in Queenstown Investigating Persistent Rumors Current There.". The New York Times. 12 May 1915. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Vanderbilt Search Abandoned.". The New York Times. 11 May 1915. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "VANDERBILT PRAYER IS "BURIAL AT SEA'; The Only Mention of Lusitania Tragedy in Memorial at Home of A. G.'s Mother. CHAPEL IN VAULTED HALL 200 Relatives and Friends Hear Impressive Episcopal Service Read -- Choir Sings Hymns.". The New York Times. 28 May 1915. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Times, Special Cable To The New York (11 June 1915). "VANDERBILT'S BODY NOT RECOVERED; Lusitania Victim Washed Up on the Irish Coast Believed to Have Been a Russian.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Daugherty, Greg (March 2012). "Seven Famous People Who Missed the Titanic". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  14. ↑ ref name="http://luxurylinerrow.com/titanic-mystery-eric-sauder-brian-hawley/"/>
  15. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (20 September 1900). "VANDERBILT-FRENCH WEDDING.; To Take Place at Newport the First Week in January.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (15 January 1901). "ALFRED G. VANDERBILT MARRIES MISS FRENCH; St, John's Church, Newport, Exquisitely Decorated. "Harbourview," Where Reception and Wedding Breakfast Are Given, a Gorgeous Floral Bower.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Blair, William G. (April 16, 1981). "William H. Vanderbilt, 79, Dead.". New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2008. William Henry Vanderbilt, a former Governor of Rhode Island who was a great-great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the 19th century railroad magnate, died Tuesday night at his home in South Williamstown, Massachusetts He was 79 years old. Mr. Vanderbilt, a Republican, served in the State Senate from 1928 to ...
  18. ↑ "Died". Time. April 27, 1981. Retrieved August 4, 2008. William Henry Vanderbilt, 79, farmer-philanthropist and sometime politician who served as Governor of Rhode Island from 1938 to 1940 and was the great-great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the 19th century railroad magnate; of cancer; in Williamstown, Massachusetts
  19. 1 2 Times, Special To The New York (25 March 1908). "MRS. A.G. VANDERBILT MOVES TO TUXEDO; Ships Household Effects, Dogs, and Little Son's Toys from Newport. OAKLAND FARM CLOSED Mr. Vanderbilt Will Spend Summer in London, Driving the Coach Venture Between That City and Brighton.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "VANDERBILT TO DEFEND SUIT.; Details of Wife's Complaint In Divorce Action Kept Secret. Mrs. Fish Entertains for the Bryoes. Garden Sale in Aid of Hartley House.". The New York Times. 3 April 1908. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "2 WITNESSES HEARD IN VANDERBILT SUIT; Valet of Alfred G. and a Woman, Supposedly His Wife's Maid, Testify in Secret. WIFE THE NEXT WITNESS The Greatest Reticence Observed In Divorce Action Following the Hiding of Papers In Court.". The New York Times. 4 April 1908. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "DECREE OF DIVORCE FOR MRS. VANDERBILT; Gets Custody of Her Son and Right to Remarry, Which Is Denied to Alfred G. Vanderbilt. MME. RUIZ'S NAME IN CASE Nothing In the Papers Referring to Alimony or Any Financial Arrangement.". The New York Times. 26 May 1908. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (25 July 1908). "SOCIAL WAR AT NEWPORT.; Vanderbilt Divorce Splits the Colony Into Factions.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  24. 1 2 Times, Special Cable To The New York (11 June 1909). "MRS. ANTONIO RUIZ A SUICIDE IN LONDON; Was Mentioned in Connection with the Divorce Case of Alfred G. Vanderbilt. NEWS OF DEATH SUPPRESSED Had Been Rumored Here, but Not Confirmed -- Inquest Held Three Weeks Ago -- Divorced Last Summer.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  25. ↑ Times, Special Cable To The New York (15 June 1909). "RUIZ CASE BROUGHT BEFORE PARLIAMENT; Member for Jarrow Gives Notice That He Will Question Home Secretary Gladstone. AIMED AT CORONER'S ACTS Refusal to Show Depositions Cited -Good Faith Not Questioned, but Other Court Officers Under Suspicion.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  26. ↑ Times, Special Cable To The New York (24 April 1911). "A.G. VANDERBILT LEAVES; Returns to London, While Mrs. McKim Departs for Berlin.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  27. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (19 December 1911). "NO SURPRISE FOR NEWPORT.; Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Mrs. McKim's Marriage Was Expected.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  28. ↑ Times, Special Cable To The New York (19 December 1911). "VANDERBILT KEPT WEDDING GUARDED; His Marriage to Mrs. McKim Secretly Planned -- Only the Four Witnesses Present.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  29. 1 2 "MRS. EMERSON, 75, OF THE '400' DEAD; Society Leader Was Mother of Alfred Vanderbilt -- Her Father Headed Drug Firm". The New York Times. January 3, 1960. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  30. ↑ Times, Special Cable To The New York (18 December 1911). "A.G. VANDERBILT WEDS MRS. M'KIM; Quiet Sunday Marriage in a Registrar's Office in an English Village.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  31. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (31 December 1902). "McKim -- Emerson.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  32. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (21 September 1932). "DR. SMITH H. M'KIM DIES IN BALTIMORE; Member of One of Oldest Families There and Former Resident of This City.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  33. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (22 May 1909). "DR. SMITH H. M'KIM AND WIFE SEPARATE; Left Their Apartments at the Plaza Recently, and Mrs. McKim Went to Paris. NO DIVORCE, SAY FAM1LY Separation Said to Have Been Arranged Amicably -- Mrs. McKim a Daughter of I.E. Emerson.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  34. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (14 August 1910). "MRS. M'KIM WINS DIVORCE AT RENO; Tells Her Story in Court, Accusing Dr. McKim of Cruelty, Non-Support, and Drunkenness. LEFT HIM TWO YEARS AGO Declares Her Father, the Baltimore Drug Manufacturer, Had Supported Them -- No Answer Is Filed.". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  35. ↑ "MRS. A.G. VANDERBILT GIVES BIRTH TO SON; Former Mr. McKim Has Been Living in England Since Second Marriage.". The New York Times. 23 September 1912. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  36. ↑ "ANOTHER $5,000,000 FOR A. G. VANDERBILT; He Gets Second Quarter of His Inheritance on 25th Birthday--Buys 450-Acre Farm". The New York Times. 23 September 1937. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  37. ↑ "George Vanderbilt Is Killed in Plunge; George Vanderbilt, 47, Is Killed In Plunge From Hotel on Coast". The New York Times. June 25, 1961. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  38. ↑ Gloria Baker later married Henry J. Topping, Jr.
  39. ↑ Speers, L. C. (30 January 1927). "Damage Bills of American Citizens Reaching $1,479,000,000 Have Been Reduced To About $180,000,000 -- Vanderbilt and Frohman Estates Get Nothing". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  40. ↑ "Docket No. 2187: Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt". Claims commission.
  41. ↑ "Court Holds Lusitania Sinking Act of War And Alfred G. Vanderbilt Insurance Void". The New York Times. 31 January 1923. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  42. ↑ "VANDERBILT CHILDREN HURT; Tree Falis in Front of Their Auto and Driver Is Killed.". The New York Times. 3 August 1917. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  43. ↑ "Sagamore Lodge". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
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