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VOLUME XVI. NUMBER 52.
Low V 9
ROMANCES
gf o
JAnDERBILTS
'EW YORK. — Julia Estelle
French, one of the youngest de
scendants and heirs of- old
Commodore Vanderbilt, has
eloped with a chauffeur of New-
port, and has thereby once again re
vived interest in the long line of ro
mance and scandal —rotnantic scandal
or scandalous romance —that has ac
cumulated from generation to genera
tion around the name of Vanderbilt.
It turns one’s attention back to the
days when Cornelius disinherited his
son of the same name because be in
sisted on marrying for love a young
woman eight years his elder. His son
Alfred, who presumably married to
suit him, and who Inherited all of his
money, is since divorced, while Corne
lius is said never to have regretted
his marriage. But this is but one of
many anecdotes to be told of the love
stories of this illustrious family.
Miss Wilson was an extremely rich
young woman in her own right. Her
two sisters had married Ogden Goelet
and Sir Michael Herbert. But though
old enough to marry, Miss Grace was
single. “She has not yet fallen In
love,” said her mother to the Prince of
Wales, later King Edward, who ad
mired Grace and asked why she was
not settled in a home of her own. To
the German emperor, to whom she was
presented. Miss Wilson said, “I would
gladly marry a foreigner, your ma
jesty, but I could marry no one if 1
did not first fall in love.”
Fall In love she did, with young
Cornelius Vanderbilt The match, be
cause of the young woman’s age, was
bitterly opposed by the bridegroom’s
father, and the young man was prac
tically turned out of the house. But
nevertheless the young couple were
quietly married. A year later old
Cornelius died and disinherited his son
of the same name "for disobedience to
parental wishes.”
Wilson Comes to the Rescue.
"My daughter, Grace, loves you,”
R. T. Wilson to the young Vanderbilt
without a fortune, "and if your fa
ther hasn’t left you with enough to
support your family, I guess I’ve got
enough for you- both.”
Young Cornelius went to work, and
in the last ten years has perfected
enough valuable machinery more than
to support his wife and family. Be
sides any such sums, he received $6,-
000,000 as a gift from his brother Al
fred, to whom the father left most of
his fortune. So the old man did not
ohe Umnutim Bulletin.
William K. Vanderbilt
cheat love out of its due of worldly
fortune after all. You wouldn’t think
he would wish to put a ban on continu
ous and happy lovo in his family.
There has not been enough of it to
'■spare.
The second son, Alfred Gwyne Van
derbilt, came into possession of $50,-
000,000 by the will of his father, but
it did not bring him a, happy 'marriage.
He gave his family great pleasure by
wedding Miss Elsie French, a repre
sentative New York girl of old family.
She had a great fortune in her own
right, but not in comparison with the
fortune of her husband. She was de
scribed at the time of her marriage,
which took place with great pomp at
Newport, as being one of the blondest
and one of the prettiest young women
of the smart set Her hair was of
pale straw color. It grew abundantly
on her head, and she wore it in a loose
fluff around her face. Her skin was
fair and her eyes were like blue
china.
Reginald’s Romance Stll! Holds.
She was fond of her husband’s fa
vorite pastime of coaching, and was
his frequent companion on trips be
tween New York and Philadelphia.
But for some reason or other, they
could not "hit it off.” Alfred was not
scholarly and he was not constant in
his affections. His defections have
been costly. They have cost him his
wife and a tremendous alimony, and
the society of his ten-year-old son, who
w'as to have had the bulk of his for
tune.
There was one other brother who
has always been a romantic figure In
the society of the country. This is
Reginald—lover of horses and, more
remarkable perhaps, of his wife. He
married Kathleen Neilson when she
was the youngest and prettiest de
butante of the year In New York. She
had been out only a little, and then
under the escort of her uncle, Fred
erick Gebhard. She was almost un
known to society at that time, but her
family was an old and an honorable
one. “Baby Kathleen,” as she was
called then, had spent her life in the
nursery and abroad at school. She
went from the convent into the mil-;
lionalre’s home.
Since her marriage she has lived
at Newport, whore she has built one of
the handsomest houses in Rhode Is
land. It is a palace, and sho enter
tains vast parties of house guests in
it Like the czarina of Russia, she
IRWINTON, WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1911.
seldom sets off her own grounds. She
goes frequently over her estate, and
she drives out occasionally with her
husband. When he exhibits his horses
she usually travels to the shows
with him, however remote they may
be from her residence. She was seen
frequently In Chicago, when he drove
here. She went to New York to the
debut and to the wedding of her sis
ter-in-law, who was Gladys Vander
bilt. But she returned to be'- home
Immediately.
"I wouldn’t live in New York for the
world,” she has said.
She Is the prettiest and the most
democratic of all the three Vander
bilt sisters-in-law. Mrs. Cornelius is
the leader socially, and Mrs. Alfred
was the most blonde and the most
practical. She was the most economi
cal and the least talkative Mrs.
Cornelius is the most brilliant, the
stateliest, and the greatest society
woman of them all.
Unhappy Romance of Consuelo.
All of the Vanderbilt romances,
however, are not confined to this one
Immediate family. The subject cannot
be mentioned without a word about
the unhappy marriage of Consuelo,
Duchess of Marlborough, daughter of
Willie K. Vanderbilt and the woman
who is now Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont.
The papers gave a page to the descrip
tion of the wedding. It was one of the
largest society events ever known in
the United States. Some of the head
lines read, "Hands Go With Hearts,"
and the orchestra played “Oh, Perfect
Love” during the ceremony.
When the new American duchess
went for the first time to her new es
tate, the servants who had been in her
husband's family through years turned
out to give her a hearty greeting. The
nobility of England received and loved
her. She was soon famous for her en
tertainment and her charities. But
there was no denying it —her marriage
was not a success.
The duchess looked and was unhap
py. Her father tried to adjust the dif
ficulties of his daughter with her hus
band even while he was undergoing
difficulties with his wife which led
eventually to divorce. The king of
England is said to have tried to bring
the two together. But it could not be
done. They are now living separately,
with the two children in the custody
of the duchess, except for a brief
period every year.
When her father married Mrs. Ruth
erford in London, after obtaining bls
divorce more or less sensationally,
the duchess attended the wedding,
kissed him and wished him happiness.
When her mother married Mr. Bel
mont, that most democratic of million
aires, she did the same. Nobody
knows how she felt, however, while
they were getting their divorce.
Differences in Taste Striking.
Mrs. Vanderbilt was originally Miss
Alva Smith of Alabama, and she was
of restless and ambitious nature. Her
husband’s tastes were quiet. She said
to her friends that he was provincial.
This made some smile, since she came
from Mobile and he from New York.
Mr. Belmont was of a temperament
different from Mr. Vanderbilt’s. He
was vivacious and fond of pleasure.
A divorce from Mrs. Belmont, who
soon after became Mrs. George L.
Rives, seemed to depress him not at
all. He and Mrs. Vanderbilt became
warm friends and even confidants.
This was while the woman was still
married to Mr. Vanderbilt. He oblig
ingly went to Europe. He lived In
Paris the life of the fashionable bache
lor. He drove in his liveried carriage
with a woman of the demimonde.
"How unlike Willie K.,” exclaimed his
wondering wife. Later she mentioned
the woman’s name in her suit. After
that Mr. Vanderbilt dropped her, and
the world then knew what "the game”
had been.
Marie Vanderbilt Allen Is said to
have been baptized at birth in her
mother’s tears. It was not a good
omen. Her mother died of a broken
heart. She had several successors,
none of them happy women. Marie
grew up capricious, beautiful, fasci
nating as her father, and lacking like (
him character ballast. Her marriage
with John Wilmerding was one of the
memorable weddings of Grace church
in New York, but it did not hold long.
Her husband threw a plate of ice
cream in her face in a burst of rage
against her for her airy behavior. Mrs.
Wilmerding for a time was kept in an
asylum. After that she led a gay life
in New York, and sank to the usual i
sordid life of the unfortunate.
The marriage of young Elliott Shep
ard was one of the same sort. He
saw a pretty woman, fell in love with
ner, married, repented, and was di
vorced. There are others —so many
that one cannot think of going into
their ramifications. Perhaps they have
no particular significance now. But
still they will rise to mind on such a
happy occasion as the one of few
weeks past, when the young heir to
all of this love and romance and
money runs away with a chauffeur. Is
all that has gone before in the way
of unhappy marriages in the Vander
bilt family but a mere foreshadowing
of what is yet to come? Maybe so—
and then maybe not. The only happy
marriages of the long history of the
family are those that have been
deemed unfortunate by the connection
at the time they have taken place.
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