Anne Harriman Vanderbilt
{{Short description|American heiress (1861–1940)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anne Harriman Vanderbilt
| image = Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd, the wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt circa 1915.jpg
| caption = Anne, circa 1915
| birth_name = Anne Harriman
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|2|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1940|04|20|1861|2|17|mf=y}}
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| parents = Oliver Harriman
Laura Low Harriman
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Samuel Stevens Sands II
|1884|1889|reason=died}} - {{marriage|Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Jr.
|June 16, 1890|January 5, 1901|reason=died}} - {{marriage|William Kissam Vanderbilt
|April 29, 1903|July 22, 1920|reason=died}}
}}
| children = 4, including Margaret Stuyvesant Murat
| relations = Oliver Harriman Jr. (brother)
J. Borden Harriman (brother)
Herbert M. Harriman (brother)
E. H. Harriman (cousin)
| awards = Légion d'honneur
}}
Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt (February 17, 1861 – April 20, 1940) was an American heiress known for her marriages to prominent men and her role in the development of the Sutton Place neighborhood as a fashionable place to live.
Early life
File:660 5th Avenue New York City.jpg on Fifth Avenue, New York City. Although originally the house of W.K. Vanderbilt, Alva Erskine Smith maintained ownership of the Petit Chateau after she divorced W.K. Vanderbilt in 1895. She would also keep the Marble House in Newport, and custody of the couples 3 children. Anne Harriman Vanderbilt never resided in 660 5th Avenue. |alt=]]
Anne Harriman was born on February 17, 1861. She was one of eight children born to banker Oliver Harriman (1829–1904) and Laura (née Low) Harriman (1834–1901).{{cite news|title=DEATH OF OLIVER HARRIMAN.; Prominent in City's Commercial and Social Life for Many Years.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/03/13/archives/death-of-oliver-harriman-prominent-in-citys-commercial-and-social.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=13 March 1904}} Her siblings included Oliver Harriman Jr. (1862–1940), J. Borden Harriman (1864–1914), and Herbert M. Harriman (1873–1933).{{cite news|title=OLIVER HARRIMAN'S ESTATE $20,000,000; Surrogate Silkman Admits His Will to Probate.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/04/10/archives/oliver-harrimans-estate-20000000-surrogate-silkman-admits-his-will.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 April 1904}} Her first cousin, E. H. Harriman, was the father of Governor W. Averell Harriman.
Society life
In 1903, along with Anne Morgan and Elisabeth Marbury, Anne helped organize the Colony Club, the first women's social club in New York.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Sarah Harrison|title=Ladies and Not-So-Gentle Women|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/11/bib/000611.rv091622.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 11, 2000}} They engaged Stanford White, then New York's most famous architect, to design the interiors of the club.{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=David|title=Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties|date=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780762768196|pages=207–208|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivN7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA207|access-date=21 July 2017}}
Anne was also known for her philanthropy and for devoting "herself to those less fortunate". She financed the construction of the "open-stair" apartment houses, four large buildings that contained almost 400 apartments on what is now York Avenue in Manhattan. The buildings were created to house tuberculosis patients. Vanderbilt donated $1,000,000 and the buildings were completed in 1910.{{cite web|title=Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt 1861-1940|url=http://www.faubourgmontmartre.com/ah1861.html|website=www.faubourgmontmartre.com|access-date=21 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116020400/http://www.faubourgmontmartre.com/ah1861.html|archive-date=16 November 2016|url-status=dead}}
In 1916, she hosted a fundraiser for the war sufferers of Venice.{{cite news|title=TABLEAUX IN HOME OF MRS. VANDERBILT {{!}} Society Women Posing in Venetian Paintings Clear $5,000 for War Sufferers. {{!}} THE 'MADONNA ENTHRONED {{!}} Depicted by Miss Rutherfurd, Cyril Hatch, and Dudley Morgan -- Nijinski, Carpaccio's Gondolier.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/04/26/archives/tableaux-in-home-of-mrs-vanderbilt-society-women-posing-in-venetian.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 April 1916}}
In 1919, she was made a Knight of the Légion d'honneur by the French government and in 1932, she received the rank of Officer of the Légion d'honneur.
=Residences=
File:I Sutton Place, New York City, NY, USA (2).jpg
In 1921, she also sold their country home, "Stepping Stones", in Wheatley Hills in Jericho on Long Island for $500,000 to Ormond Gerald Smith. The estate was around 125 acres and had a home commissioned by her late husband and designed by John R. Hill.{{cite news|title=Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt Sells Country Home, "Stepping Stones", to Ormond G. Smith|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/01/19/archives/mrs-wk-vanderbilt-sells-country-home-stepping-stones-to-ormond-g.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=19 January 1921}}
In 1921, Anne then purchased the former home of Effingham B. Sutton, at 1 Sutton Place, for $50,000 in the then-new neighborhood of Sutton Place, also in Manhattan.{{cite news|title=MRS. W.K. VANDERBILT TO LIVE IN AVENUE A; Quitting 5th Av., Buys Home in Sutton Place, at Foot of East 57th Street. JOINS THE NEW COLONY East Side Section to Become a Centre for New York Society Leaders.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/01/09/archives/mrs-wk-vanderbilt-to-live-in-avenue-a-quitting-5th-av-buys-home-in.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=9 January 1921}} Before her move, along with Elizabeth Marbury, Anne Morgan,{{cite news|title=MISS MORGAN JOINS EAST SIDE COLONY; She Is Having House in Exclusive Sutton Place Improved for Her Occupancy. OTHER NOTABLES THERE Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt Started Movement in Direction of East River a Year Ago|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/10/15/archives/miss-morgan-joins-east-side-colony-she-is-having-house-in-exclusive.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 October 1921}} her sister, Emeline Harriman Olin, second wife of Stephen Henry Olin, the neighborhood was known as a squalid place. Vanderbilt, Marbury, and Morgan each hired Mott B. Schmidt (1889–1977),{{cite news|title=SUTTON PLACE BUILDING.; Work Started on Mrs. Vanderbilt's New East Side Home.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/03/27/archives/sutton-place-building-work-started-on-mrs-vanderbilts-new-east-side.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=27 March 1921}} an American architect best known for his buildings in the American Georgian Classical style,{{cite web | url=http://www.mottschmidt.com/about_us/view/introduction-1 | title=About Mott Schmidt | publisher=mottschmidt.com | work=The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt | access-date=September 8, 2012}} to build, or in Vanderbilt's case, renovate homes in the neighborhood.{{cite web | url=http://www.mottschmidt.com/about_mott_schmidt/view/sutton-place | title=About Mott Schmidt: Beginnings and Sutton Place | publisher=MottSchmidt.com | work=The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt | access-date=September 8, 2012 | author=Smith, Mark Alan}} The society pages of The New York Times scoffed at their relocation and referred to the areas as an "Amazon Enclave."
Mott transformed the home into a thirteen-room townhouse with terraced gardens that overlooked the East River.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/skyslimitpassion00gain|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/skyslimitpassion00gain/page/103 103]|title=The Sky's the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan|last1=Gaines|first1=Steven|date=2005|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=9780759513884|access-date=21 July 2017}} The cost of the home renovation was approximately $75,000 in 1921.{{cite news|title=VANDERBILT PLANS FILED; Cost of Her Sutton Place Residence Estimated at $75,000.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/03/10/archives/vanderbilt-plans-filed-cost-of-her-sutton-place-residence-estimated.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 March 1921}} Vanderbilt had Elsie de Wolfe design the interiors. The terrace, done by Renee Prahar, featured two center pillars with ornamental monkeys holding globes of light in their hands.{{cite news|title=MONKEYS ADORN TERRACE.; Novel Decoration for Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt's Sutton Place Home.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/02/09/archives/monkeys-adorn-terrace-novel-decoration-for-mrs-wk-vanderbilts.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=9 February 1922}} By January 1929, The Times changed their tune and wrote:{{cite news|title=DE LUXE APARTMENTS REPLACE EAST SIDE TENEMENTS; Big Realty Increases. Prominent Operators. $7,000,000 Watergate Project. Bridge Plaza Improvements. 1928 Construction List.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/01/06/archives/de-luxe-apartments-replace-east-side-tenements-big-realty-increases.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=6 January 1929}}
{{blockquote|Five years ago, when Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt established her residence in Sutton Place overlooking the East River, it was little dreamed that within so short a time such a marked migration from mid-Manhattan to the East River district would occur as is now in full swing. In the unbroken line of new apartments, lining Fifty-seventh Street almost solidly from Second Avenue to Sutton Place, those who doubted the wisdom of Mrs. Vanderbilt's move have found a convincing answer to their conjectures as to the ultimate success of the Sutton Place movement.}}
Marriages
She married firstly sportsman Samuel Stevens Sands II (1856–1889),{{cite news|title=Obituary -- SANDS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1889/03/24/archives/obituary-2-no-title.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 March 1889}} the son of Samuel Stevens Sands (1827–1892), the head of S.S. Sands Co.{{cite news|title=SAMUEL STEVENS SANDS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/07/26/archives/obituary-samuel-stevens-sands.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 July 1892}} Before his death from a fall during a hunt at Meadow Brook, she had two sons by Sands:{{cite news|title=SANDS HEIRS HAVE $434,476; Ogden Mills and Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt, Guardians, File Their Reports.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/05/04/archives/sands-heirs-have-434476-ogden-mills-and-mrs-wk-vanderbilt-guardians.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 May 1916}}
- George Winthrop Sands (1885–1908),{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special Cable To The New York|title=LONDON HEARS OF ACCIDENT.; Reported at First Victim Was W.K. Vanderbilt.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/07/30/archives/london-hears-of-accident-reported-at-first-victim-was-wk-vanderbilt.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=30 July 1908}} who was married to Tayo Newton, daughter of Dr. B. Newton of New York, in 1905.{{cite news|title=SANDS ESTATE ONLY $2,000.; Little Left by Son of Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt, Killed in Auto Wreck.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/12/19/archives/sands-estate-only-2000-little-left-by-son-of-mrs-wk-vanderbilt.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=19 December 1908}}
- Samuel Stevens Sands III (1884–1913), who married Gertrude Sheldon, daughter of Mary Seney Sheldon and George R. Sheldon, in 1910.{{cite news|title=S. STEVENS SANDS KILLED UNDER AUTO; Speeding to His Wife, as Was His Brother, Who Met the Same Fate in France.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/07/03/archives/s-stevens-sands-killed-under-auto-speeding-to-his-wife-as-was-his.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=3 July 1913}}
Her second marriage was on June 16, 1890, to Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Jr. (1859–1901), son of the astronomer Lewis Morris Rutherfurd and brother to Winthrop Rutherfurd. Before his death, she had two daughters by Rutherford:
- Barbara Cairncross Rutherfurd (1895–1939),{{cite news|title=BARBARA RUTHERFURD SUCCUMBS IN FRANCE; Colonial Leaders' Descendant Aided Red Cross in War|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/08/06/archives/barbara-rutherfurd-succumbs-in-france-colonial-leaders-descendant.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=6 August 1939}} who married Cyril Hatch, son of Charles Henry Hatch, in 1916.{{cite news|title=MISS. RUTHERFURD TO BE MRS. C. HATCH {{!}} Mrs. Win. K. Vanderbilt Sr.'s, Daughter Barbara Is Engaged to Clubman. {{!}} ACTIVE IN WAR CHARITIES {{!}} Bride to-be Is Granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Harriman -- Wedding Soon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/04/21/archives/b40g73issrutherf-to-be-mrs-g-hatch-mrs-win-k-vanderbilt-srs.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=21 April 1916}}{{cite news|title=MISS RUTHERFURD, CYRIL HATCH'S BRIDE; Younger Daughter of Mrs. Wm. K. Vanderbilt Sr., Married in Fifth Avenue Home. FAMILY ONLY IS PRESENT Stepfather Gives Bride, 21, In Marriage;-Bridegroom Is 38 ;- Honeymoon Trip to Far West.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/06/23/archives/miss-rutherfurd-cyril-hatchs-bride-younger-daughter-of-mrs-wm-k.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=23 June 1916}}{{cite book|title=Social Register, New York|date=1920|publisher=Social Register Association|page=314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ek5IAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA314|access-date=19 July 2017}} They had one child, Rutherfurd L. Hatch (d. 1947),{{cite news|title=RUTHERFURD L. HATCH; Member of New York Family of Social Prominence Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/04/14/archives/rutherfurd-l-hatch-member-of-new-york-family-of-social-prominence.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 April 1947}} before divorcing in 1920.{{cite news|title=MRS. HATCH DIVORCE IN PARIS REPORTED; Daughter of Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt Sr., Free, Says FamilyRepresentative.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/26/archives/mrs-hatch-divorce-in-paris-reported-daughter-of-mrs-wk-vanderbilt.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 September 1920}}{{cite web|title=Heaven Sent|url=http://aestheteslament.blogspot.com/2011_09_28_archive.html|website=aestheteslament.blogspot.com|publisher=An Aesthete's Lament|access-date=19 July 2017|date=28 September 2011}} In 1924, she married Winfield Jesse Nicholls, a fellow follower of Oom the Omnipotent.{{cite news|title=MRS. B. R. HATCH WED OOM DISCIPLE; Daughter of Mrs. Win. K. Vanderbilt Married Winfield J. Nicholls, Artist, Aug. 11 {{!}} KEPT MARRIAGE SECRET {{!}} Sir Paul and Lady Dukes at Ceremony Before Peace Justice in New City -- Bride Also in Cult.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/08/27/archives/isbi-r-hatch-00m-disgiplb-daughtor-of-mrs-win-k-vanclerbilt-married.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=27 August 1924}} After having two children, Guy Winfield Nicholls{{cite news|title=Suzanne Nicholls Bride of John Thorndike|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/25/archives/suzanne-nicholls-bride-of-john-thorndike.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=25 March 1979}} and Margaret Mary Nicholls, they divorced in 1930.{{cite news|title=NICHOLLS PAPERS SERVED; Copies in Annulment Action Left at Homes by Court Order.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/07/26/archives/nicholls-papers-served-copies-in-annulment-action-left-at-homes-by.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 July 1928}}{{cite news|title=W.J. NICHOLLS SUES FOR DIVORCE IN RENO; Desertion Charged to Daughter of Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt--Couple Wed at "Love Cult" Colony.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/10/archives/wj-nicholls-sues-for-divorce-in-reno-desertion-charged-to-daughter.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 September 1930}}{{cite news|title=W.J. NICHOLLS GETS DIVORCE AT RENO; Freed From Former Barbara Rutherfurd|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/16/archives/wj-nicholls-gets-divorce-at-reno-freed-from-former-barbara.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 September 1930}}
- Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd (1891–1976), who first married Ogden Livingston Mills (1884–1937), Secretary of the Treasury.{{cite book|last1=Aitken|first1=William Benford|title=Distinguished Families in America, Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke|date=1912|publisher=Knickerbocker Press|url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_5684818_000|page=[https://archive.org/details/ldpd_5684818_000/page/n79 48]|access-date=7 May 2017}} They divorced in 1919. In 1922, she married Sir Paul Henry Dukes (1889–1967).{{cite news|title=MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS WEDS SIR PAUL DUKES; Daughter of Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt Is Secret Bride of Ex-British War Spy in Russia. COUPLE SAILED LAST FRIDAY Both Had Been Members of Omnipotent Oom's Mystic Colony in Nyack.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/10/18/archives/mrs-ogden-l-mills-weds-sir-paul-dukes-daughter-of-mrs-wk-vanderbilt.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=18 October 1922}} They divorced in 1929 and, later that same year, she married Prince Charles Michel Joachim Napoléon (1892–1973), son of Joachim, 5th Prince Murat. They also divorced and in 1939, she married Frederick Leybourne Sprague.{{Citation | title = Mrs. M. S. Rutherfurd Wed To F. L. Sprague | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 27 November 1939 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/11/27/113374793.pdf}}. Margaret was the daughter of Anne Harriman, the second wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt, and her second husband, Lewis Morris Rutherfurd, son of the astronomer Lewis Morris Rutherfurd. After divorcing Dukes, Margaret Rutherfurd successively married Charles Michel Joachim Napoléon, Prince Murat, and Frederick Leybourne Sprague (1907–1993).
On April 29, 1903, she married her third husband, William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849–1920), in London.{{cite news|title=W. K. VANDERBILT'S COMING MARRIAGE; Mrs. Lewis Morris Rutherfurd the Prospective Bride. The Wedding Arranged to Take Place April 29 at the Home of Secretary White of the American Embassy in London.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/04/22/archives/w-k-vanderbilts-coming-marriage-mrs-lewis-morris-rutherfurd-the.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=22 April 1903}} Vanderbilt, who had previously been married to Alva Smith and divorced in 1895, was the son of William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam. He was the father of Consuelo Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, and Harold Stirling Vanderbilt.{{cite news|title=W.K. VANDERBILT LEFT $54,530,966; TWO SONS GET BULK; He Gave Daughter $5,000,000, When She Became the Duchess of Marlborough. WIDOW GETS $109,196.47 Estate Pays $1,934,571, the Largest Inheritance Tax in History of Suffolk County. HELD MOSTLY IN SECURITIES Shares in Three Big Railway Sys- tems Totaled Nearly $29,000, -- 000 -- Realty Appraised. W.K. VANDERBILT LEFT $54,530,966|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/03/07/archives/wk-vanderbilt-left-54530966-two-sons-get-bulk-he-gave-daughter.html|access-date=21 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=7 March 1923}} They also remained married until his death. She had no children by Vanderbilt.{{cite news|title=VANDERBILT WILL ESTABLISHES TRUST; Mrs. M.M. Sprague, Daughter, and Grandchildren Are Chief Beneficiaries|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/04/archives/vanderbilt-will-establishes-trust-mrs-mm-sprague-daughter-and.html|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 May 1940}}
=Death and burial=
Anne died on April 20, 1940.{{cite news|last1=World|first1=Times Wide|title=MRS. VANDERBILT DIES IN HOSPITAL; Widow of W. K. and Daughter of Late Oliver Harriman Noted for War Work and Charities|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/21/archives/mrs-vanderbilt-dies-in-hospital-widow-of-w-k-and-daughter-of-late.html|access-date=7 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=21 April 1940}} She was buried inside the Vanderbilt mausoleum at the Moravian Cemetery, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1885–1886, part of the family's private section within the cemetery. Their mausoleum is a replica of a Romanesque church in Arles, France. The landscaped grounds around the Vanderbilt mausoleum were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The Vanderbilt section is not open to the public.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.moraviancemetery.com/aboutus.htm |publisher=Moravian Cemetery Website |access-date=4 October 2013}}
References
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External links
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Category:People from Manhattan
Category:Philanthropists from New York (state)
Category:American women philanthropists
Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour
Category:American women in World War I
Category:20th-century American people
Category:Burials at the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum