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w ,% c T>z^W:J' h r y WHAF IS THE MATTER WITH WE
Should Lea-Ve His MarK. W 1 ,IL 1 rt
on JVo Less Than Fourteen of Amerh a’s 'Rich- \f ft Pi I lETOPI I iH§L /
est. Most Widely Celebrated Clan? f fia i LI ,
THE recent divorce of Al
fred Vanderbilt and the
death of Oliver H. I’
Belmont, who married the di
vorced wife of William K. Van
derhllt, coupled with Cardinal
Logue’a utterances on leaving
this country respecting the men
ace of the divorce evil in Amer
ica, naturally provokes an ex
amination into the divorce rec
ords affecting the most promi
nent family connected with
American Industrial and social
life.
The result of such an exam
ination appears astounding.
No less than fourteen mem
bers of the Vanderbilt clan have
carried their matrimonial trou
bles to the divorce court, and
In most instances have obtained
absolute decree*.
What is the matter with the
Vanderbilts?
Aro they domestically impoa
6lble? Docs some law of hered
ity or of circumstance make
marriage mean misery to the de
scendants of the doughty old
Commodore, founder of the
house of Vanderbilt?
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Ur*. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
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cllu» Mr*. Marie A ae»o- &W GtSAIWI3JbP->AV
>llt. Wllmerdlng.
Only a few yeer* separated the divorce
of Mra. William K v>nderb!!t from the
marriage and early sep.. ration of her
daughter, Conauelo, the Ducbt** of Marl
lor* of h. *
Ac epertflontar ac their marriage was the
divorce of the youi.g Id:tot Rheparda, the
nephew and niece In law of Cornelius Van
derbllt
Although there hare been no rumors of
divorce hot wean the pair, the marriage of
VafiderUU and Mlae Grace
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Zjtot- .S'J I, ft- B« ,mont -
DIVORCE SUMMARY IN THE VANDERBILT CLAN.
1. W. K. Vanderbilt—divorced and married again.
z. Consuelo, hie daughter. Duchess of Marlborough—aenarated from her
huabn nd.
8 Elliot Shenard. great grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt—Honed.
married, divorced!
4. Alfred Vanderbilt—dlvoreed.
ft. Colonel Vanderbilt Allen, grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt—sep
arated from HU wI \ »»*
0. Mra. Marie X underbill W llmerdlnc great-granddaughter—dllvoreed.
7. Mr». Clarence Collins, grnnddaughter—dlvoreed.
ft. Coiintca* (»iivkow«kT. great grandtlaugbter—divorced.
0. Mrs. Fred > anderhllt—previously dlvoreed
10. Leroy Dresser. brother of Mr* George Vanderbilt—sued for divorce.
11. Mrs. Fernando Vanaga. *l»ter of \V. K. Vamlerhllf* dlvoreed wife
—divorced.
Mr>. n*or«* Tlirnnv. divorced .If,, of F.rnondo T.n.r«. dlvoreed.
IS. Countess de Vontenllllat. her winter—divorced
14. Fernando Ysnagn. divorced husband of W. K. Vanderbllfa dlvoreed
wife, married Mhi Mabel M right—dlvoreed. and »he married
(kMint ztonr.
"A crucible of shattered Vanderbilt
domesticity which society contem- Cornelius
plates In amazement." Vanderbilt.
| Mra. Alfred Vanderbilt.
tvilaon all beltered to ha the deathblow
of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who died noon
after the announcement of the engage
merit and directly following n bitter quar
rel ta*tween the father and sou on the
subject.
The atory of the beautiful Marie WII-
Berdlng, daughter of Vanderbilt Allen and
granddaughter of beautiful, willful Rth»i*
ludii Vanderbilt, la one that rune the
yamut of misfortune from n faahlotiable
though haefy and I rooalder**! wedd ng
to the Ufa of a social outcast
Vet Mra. Wllracrdlng, who had been
Marie Allen, had seen etamples of profll
gaey from her ehlldbood flashing, un
m rupulous Colonel Vanderbilt All* n had
figured In divorce eases, had boen aevaral
times married, and bed made hla daughter
tb«* companion of favorltea of hla outalde
the bond# of wedioefc.
IHKiK
Tlie long roll of matrimonial unhappiness
rnnialna alao Mr. Frail V«ll<1»H)IU, vhn h.-
f.irp h.r m.rrln,« to Mr. Vanilarbllt, hafl
mart. an unhappy aacuralon Into motrlinony
with Mr. Alfinl Torranr., nltiu » *r«nil
■on of t'oinntodoro V.ndnrbllt.
Othnr tronblf. hr.wln* In tha wltrhru'
pot IndloM" that th.r* will «onn boll In
thr lop anal h.r, and parhapa Iwn. dlrorr..
In the Vand.rbllt family proper Tha marl
till mla.rlM of the dlaiaht ramlllrntlona of
tha family may bo bayond aalanlatlon.
II la a amalhla of ahattaraii Vandarbllt
douia.tlrlly tvhlah aoclaty ronUmplataa In
amazement.
When last month the newa went spin
ning over telegraph and cable line* that
O 11 V Belmont, the moat democratic of
the miiltlmllllonnlrea. the man who wac
known In poll!lea na well aa on the turf,
who waa an organiser of gigantic bualneaa
enterprises. and who put on linen coat
and apron and Impersonated a bartender
at a charity feta, had died, there waa
mingled mourning and reminiscence Every
one recalled the divorce of WUJIam K. Van
derbllt and hla wife, aoon flowed by the
irrlage of O. 11. I’ Belmont to the di
vorcee,
Mra. Vanderbilt, originally Mlaa Alva
:c lh;. of Alfthatf a, waa of n reatleee
til a mbit lone nature liar husband's
• were quiet. Rhe declared to her
friends that they were provincial, hlcfi
> -t the persons addressed to computing tne
relative population of New York nnd Mo
Lite.
Mr. O If P Balmont wa* of a temper
ament the opposite of Mr Vanderhllt’e.
lie waa vivacious and pleasure loving. A
divorce from Mrs. Belmont, who soon be
came Mra Osorge I. Blvea, scanted to
hava degreased him not at all. tie and
Mra. Vanderbilt became warm frianda.
They even became confidante respecting
t-wu other's marital dlslllualonmente.
Thereafter the one became twain. Mr.
Vanderbilt want to Kurope. fie lived In
parts the life of a fashionable bachelor.
Moon It waa observed that n famous woman
of the half world drova In hla carriage
and flaunted hla livery.
"How unlike Willie K. Vanderbilt!" e*
claimed hla wondering frlenda. "V/bat
does It mean?"
When, subsequently, tha name of * »
notorious woman appeared In the suit for
divorce filed by Mra. W. K Vender/lit.
those who knew Mr. VsndrrMlt slid)
"Aar
Those who know Mrs. Vsndsrhllt ltd
It with <iulto a different Inflection.
Nellie Nenstretter, the flsnntliur o*«nty
of I'srls, ndmltted to s few frtende thst
ehe scarcely knew Mr Vanderbilt, that
•he hid merely entered Into a business «b
rsngement with him. the reason for nlch
was not to her then npjmrent. When the
divorce wes seenred she also stM “Ahl"
The separation or Consnelo, Dnchess o|
Marlborough, from her husband, tbs young
Puke, after s few years of marriage, was
an event deplored by London and Naw
York society. Both had warm friends who
•"ponied their Iniemiatrlmonlsl cause.
Kneh faction blamed the principal of the
other. About the event was drawn the
all covering veil of Incompatibility of leek
per.
At nearly the same ttme that William
K. Vanderbilt was being divorced, his
brother, the then head of the family, Co»-
nellua Vanderbilt, was talking In the library
°f ld» palace like homo, at Vlfty-aeventh
street and Fifth syenos. In sirloin vain Is
Ms ton, the favorite one. who hesrs Ms
name Their conversation coneernsd Mies
< race Wilson, to whom young Cornelius
whlehT r‘ •»<» *•' '•wo.,
which he then g.T. to h te sea ths elder
Cornelias did oot wish hts son to marry
Mlh Wilson |, too old for , wife for
you. ray flr „
lo which argument the hoy made ready
answer. Ha proaontsd other arguments,
molly st Ural, heatedly afterward. After
*hc argument, In which he had not pre
railed, the stern old man. who bad
amassod many mllliona. hut could not roq.
trol the heart of a boy, was stricken with
psru lysis, from which ha soon died.
At the funeral men and women looked
npon t ho grim, grey face of the deed, end
whispered:
“111 hick follows In eome form every
Vanderbilt marriage,"
IU fortune preceded ret her than eeeotn
pnnled the marriage of Mre. Fred Vander
bilt, the \ anderhllt whom society knows
leant, ami whose marriage la eutd to he the
hepplnst ever contracted by one of the
name. M!«s Bertha Anthony, daughter of
tho distinguished Bonstor Anthony, of
Bbodt* Island, aim. while very young, con
tracted ono of the now unfashionable early
marrlagss. Her young bridegroom was Al
fred Torrence, tho grandson of Com me
doro Vanderbilt. The marriage was eoon
dissolved. Perhaps because sorrow had
been her portion In bor first marriage the
evil fortune that pursues the married Van
derhllt* passes her by In her second mar
riage to another of the clah.
But Marie Y’aiirwrbllt Allen did not es
cape It. It has been said of her that her
mother shod tears upon the face of the
bahy daughter at hor first sight of It It
was, according to seers and eeeresses, an
unfortunate baptism. It augurs 111 for the
little one whose portion It would seem
should he one of welcome But Vander
bilt Allen had grown from n gay youth
Into a dashing, brilliant man, contemptuous
of his conquests, and holding womanhood
of low value.
The first Mrs. Vanderbilt Allen died of a
broken heart, Hha had several suoressora,
none of them a happy woman. And driven
by winds of mood, iis an umnnnted vessel,
Marla Allen grew up capricious, beautiful,
fascinating n» her father, and lacking, ee
ho did. character ballast. Her marriage
to John Wllmerdlng, wae one of the me*
mornhle cvente among the memorable
weddings at Grace Church. In Naw York,
yet had speedy end A separation con
cluded a aorlea of bickerings culminating
in the Indignant husband flinging a plate
of lee cream into the face of his spouse.
Mrs, Wllmerdlng was for a time an in
mato of lllooiulugdale Asylum. Freed sos
a time, she Joined the gay life of Broadway
later she was of the army of Its unfortu
nates.
The marrlsge of young Elliot Bhepsrd
was a marriage of the same sort, one of
Impulse, lie fell In love with a pretty
face, fie married. He repented. He was
divorced.
The Vanderbilt clan divorce record
presents peculiar and ominous evidence
of the activity of that malevolent germ
In undermining domesticity wheraver the
Vanderbilt* explore with matrimonial de
signs For example. William K. Vender
blit married Into the Smith family, of
Alabama, taking for bis wife one of four
daughters, who was to become Mrs. O. fl.
P. Belmont by way of the divorce court.
Thereupon the Vanderbllt-cultnred di
vorce germ appears to heve fnstened Itself
upon two other of the daughters Mia#
Virginia married Fernando Tanaga. and
soon followed her Vanderbilt slater
through the dlvoree court to a finish.
Then she married George Tiffany, only to
repeat that experience.
It wns Miss “Mlml’* Smith, the third
daughter, who became the Fount#** da
Fontellllat, whose unhappiness culmi
nating In divorce was widely noticed In tb#
newspapers.
Apparently Fernando Tanaga was long
enough married to the sister of the di
vorced Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt to ao
oulra the characteristic Vanderbilt afflic
tion. Having been divorced, end having
woed and won the famed aoclety beauty.
Ml** Mabel Wright, he soon found hlm
aelf freed by the court for the eecood
time This second Mr*. Yxnaga shortly be
came the Connies# Zlchy. T.*p to this
present writing there la no public racord
#f any trouble connected with that
alllsr ce.
One of the greet graodaughters of old
Commodore Vanderbilt to be married and
dlrored la Countess Csaykowrakl follow*
Ing the example, perhaps, of har mot bar,
who was divorced from Clarence Collins.
Another of the collateral ylctlma of ths
Vanderbilt divorce bug la Leroy Dresser,
who h*% been eued for divorce by hie wife,
a sister In Imw of Mrs. George Vsnlerbllt.
Doubtless farther probing lote tbs
records would swell this formidable Hat.
What Is the matter with the Vender-
Mlta? Considering that they ar# known
the world over aa representing the great
est achievements of Americana la a aortal
and material way. Is It any wonder that
fits Holiness the Pope, several cardinals,
priests and clergyman of all craada. hart
lately admonished this nation, on paia atf
Irreparable dfsaatev. to reform tte aapirlitfl
regulations?