Isabelle Gebhard Neilson

Isabelle "Belle" was born on May 29, 1857, at the family mansion at 100 Fifth Avenue in New York City. She was one of three children born to Frederick Charles Gebhard (1825–1865) and Catherine "Kate" (née Davis) Gebhard (1829–1870), who had married in 1850. Her father joined the family firm in 1845, by which time they had expanded their mercantile business and developed interests in banking and rail-road stocks. By 1865, her father had died, and by 1870, her mother had died, leaving the children orphaned and to be raised by their uncle.{{cite news|title=Disposing of Two Million|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1878/06/28/80719828.pdf|access-date=9 February 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 June 1878}} The uncle was William Henry Gebhard. Her brother, Frederick Gebhard was known for his relationship with Lillie Langtry, a society beauty previously known for her affair with Edward, Prince of Wales. Another brother, Henry Gebhard Jr. died in 1871, aged 10, of scarlet fever.{{cite news|title=Death. William Henry Gebhard Jr. of scarlet fever, youngest son of late Frederick C. Gebhard, aged 10 years|work=The New York Times|date=17 March 1871}}

Gebhard's paternal grandfather had come from Holland to New York in 1800. He worked as an agent for a Dutch company, eventually starting a business importing gin.{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=William|title=The Old Merchants of New York City|year=1868|publisher=Carleton|location=Broadway|page=133|url=https://archive.org/stream/oldmerchantsnew02scovgoog#page/n133/mode/2up}} Between 1830 and 1832, he adopted three children (all siblings),{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The three children were Frederick Charles Bruce (1825–1865), William Henry Bruce (1827–1905) and Mary Elizabeth Bruce (1830–1883).}} whose surnames were changed by legal enactment from Bruce to Gebhard.{{cite journal|last1=Austin|first1=John|title=Early Changes of Names in new York|journal=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record|date=July 1996|volume=127|issue=3|page=140}}.

Her maternal grandfather, Thomas E. Davis, was a wealthy New York property developer who made provisions in his will for Isabelle and her brother to receive incomes from his estate until they were 30, at which time the title of the investment would be transferred to them. In 1893, her brother took legal action on behalf of himself and her to enforce this clause. Their grandfather's estate included properties in New York City. They were each entitled to 1/24th part of this estate plus a part of their aunt Nora's share due to her death in 1874.{{cite news|title=Frederick Gebhard Plaintiff|issue=Page 2|publisher=New York Press|date=11 February 1893}}

Her brother Frederick found himself in reduced circumstances, eventually starting an unsuccessful venture selling fine wines, and needed to borrow money from Isabel. She eventually took court action against him to recover the money (over $65,000).{{cite news|title=Frederick Gebhard Loses |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/01/11/104979124.pdf|access-date=5 July 2014|work=The New York Times|date=11 January 1907}}

Isabelle and her brother inherited wealth, and the family mansion, from the estates of their parents and their grandfather.{{cite news|title=Gebhard Collection Sold|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/02/17/101766991.pdf|access-date=29 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=17 February 1906}} They were well connected in New York society, being related to many of the old and wealthy American families including Vanderbilt, Stuyvesant, Livingston, Remsen, Neilson, Hunter, Delafleld, Lawrence, Wells and Leverich.{{cite news|title=Society at Home and Abroad – Mary A Schuchardt|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/10/26/118483739.pdf|access-date=28 June 2014|work=New York Times|date=26 October 1902}} Her granduncle was Father John Power, Vicar General of New York; another uncle was John F. A. Sanford, the frontiersman, who via his first marriage had family links to the Pierre Chouteau family of St Louis.

In 1892, the widowed Neilson was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.{{cite news|last1=McAllister|first1=Ward|title=THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED {{!}} WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/02/16/108210917.pdf|access-date=5 October 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 February 1892|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Jerry E.|title=The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age|date=2000|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780847822089|page=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLwMAAAAYAAJ|access-date=2 March 2018|language=en}} Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.{{cite book|last1=Keister|first1=Lisa A.|title=Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521536677|page=36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dAtJf1hmAUC&pg=PA36|access-date=20 October 2017|language=en}} According to her obituary in The New York Times, "Mrs. Neilson was noted for her originality. Many years ago, she was the first woman to wear unmatched earrings. She appeared in Newport with a diamond in one ear, and a pearl in the other, and established a vogue for this type of ornamentation." In Newport, Neilson rented Arleigh, the imposing 1893 Queen Anne mansion on Bellevue Avenue at Parker Avenue,{{cite web |title=1886-1895 {{!}} Newport Mansions |url=https://www.newportmansions.org/learn/history-highlights/lost-newport/1886-1895 |website=www.newportmansions.org |publisher=The Preservation Society of Newport County |access-date=21 January 2019 |language=en}} that was later occupied by Harry Lehr and his wife, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel.{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Paul F. |title=Lost Newport |date=2008 |publisher=Applewood Books |isbn=9781557090911 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VPhNj_9yOt0C&pg=PA53 |access-date=21 January 2019 |language=en}}

In 1873, Isabelle was married to the "strikingly handsome" Frederick William Hude Neilson (1849–1887).{{cite news |title=FREDERICK NEILSON'S DEATH. THE FATAL ILLNESS OF THE POPULAR SOCIETY MAN. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/07/29/100925239.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=July 29, 1887}} Frederick was the son of William Hude Neilson and Caroline Kane (née Mills) Neilson.{{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 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ0xAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA131 |access-date=21 January 2019 |language=en}} His first cousin, Edith (née May) Randolph,{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Frederick William Hude Neilson (1849–1887) and Edith (née May) Randolph Whitney (1854–1899) were first cousins as their mother's (Caroline Kane (née Mills) Neilson and Sarah Maria (née Mills) May) were sisters and daughters of Philo L. Mills.}} was the second wife of Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney. Together, they were the parents of:

• Frederick Gebhard Neilson (1875–1875), who died young.{{cite book |last1=Wood |first1=John Walter |title=William Wood (born 1656) of Earlsferry, Scotland and Some of His Descendants and Their Connections |date=1916 |publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor |page=[https://archive.org/details/williamwoodborn100wood/page/18 18] |url=https://archive.org/details/williamwoodborn100wood |access-date=21 January 2019 |language=en}}
• Mary Isabelle Neilson (1878–1924), who married Arthur Tryon Kemp (1871–1945){{cite news |title=Grosvenor Ball of Moline Bequeathed $5,000 by Cousin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/339168211 |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The Dispatch |date=30 Aug 1947 |page=5 |language=en}} in 1897.{{cite news |title=Kemp -- Nelison. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/04/30/105943741.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=April 30, 1897}} They divorced and she remarried to Hollis Horatio Hunnewell (1868–1922),{{cite news |title=HOLLIS HUNNEWELL DIES IN NEW YORK |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/430604293 |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 25, 1922 |page=8 |language=en}} nephew of Frederic Bronson and grandson of H. H. Hunnewell,{{cite news |title=H.H. Hunnewell, Amateur Sport Enthusiast, Dies {{!}} Funeral Will Be Held at Cambridge, Mass. Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/194045505 |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=New-York Tribune |date=25 January 1922 |page=11 |language=en}} in 1903.{{cite news |title=AWAIT DIVORCE TO MARRY. Mrs. Kemp and Hollis H. Hunnewell May Wed in Newport Saturday. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/11/24/290344872.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=November 24, 1903}}
• Jules Blanc Neilson (1879–1945), who married Marguerite Wall (1881–1936), the daughter of Frank Taylor Wall and Annie Clarke (née Meldrum) Wall,{{cite news |title=FRANK T. WALL MARRIED. Jules Blanc Neilson's Father-in-Law Weds Miss Unckles. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/01/28/120265297.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=January 28, 1904}} in 1904.{{cite news |title=JULES BLANC NEILSON GETS HIS BRIDE Secret Marriage with Marguerite Wall Displeases Both Families. SHE WAS KEPT FROM HIM " Reconciliation" with Her Father Effected by Beverley Robinson After Holding Interviews — Off on Honeymoon Trip. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/01/24/101338355.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=January 24, 1904}}
• Cathleen Gebhard Neilson (1885–1927),{{cite news |title=MRS. S. J. COLFORD DIES SUDDENLY; Former Wife of Late Reginald C. Vanderbilt Stricken at Hotel in Paris. HUSBAND HURRIEDLY SAILS New York and Newport Society Woman Had Been Called Abroad by Mother's Illness. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/06/04/97233593.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 4, 1927 |language=en}} who married Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, the youngest son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt,{{cite news |title=Mrs. Vanderbilt Sr. Dies In Home At 89. Widow Of Financier, Long Ill. Was A Leader In Brilliant Era Of New York Society |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/04/23/archives/mrs-vanderbilt-sr-dies-in-home-at-89-widow-of-financier-long-iii.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=April 23, 1934|access-date=September 21, 2017 }} in Newport in 1903.{{cite news|title=A Fashionable Wedding, Exclusive and Grand|publisher=Wilkes-Barre Times|date=April 14, 1903}}{{cite news|title=Vanderbilt Dies Aged 44|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?oldid=ogden13+13995|access-date=15 October 2016|publisher=Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=September 4, 1925}} After their divorce in 1920,{{cite news |title=MRS. R.C. VANDERBILT, DIVORCEE, IS WED TO S.J. COLFORD JR. She and War Hero Marry in Her Home a Few Hours After Obtaining License. BIG SURPRISE TO SOCIETY Bridegroom, Son of S.J. Colford of Newport, Was Divorced By His Wife Last Month. SERVED IN FRENCH ARMY Bride Is the Daughter of Mrs. Frederic Neilson—Got Her Divorce in Newport Last April. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/01/27/103539713.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=January 27, 1921}} she married Sidney Jones Colford (1885–1951) in 1921.{{cite news |title=SIDNEY J. COLFORD |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/05/26/87265046.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=May 26, 1951 |language=en}}

Around 1884, the Neilson's separated and in March 1887, she sued him for divorce in Newport. She claimed he deserted her and their three children, and the divorce was "speedily granted."{{cite news |title=MRS. FRED NEILSON DIVORCED. HER HUSBAND MAKES NO OPPOSITION TO THE DECREE. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/03/29/100903770.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=March 29, 1887}} He died several months later in July 1887 of Bright's disease while staying at the home of his father in Far Rockaway on Long Island.{{cite news |title=FREDERICK NEILSON'S FUNERAL. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/07/31/100925737.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=July 31, 1887}}

Isabelle, who did not remarry, died of cerebral hemorrhage at her apartment in the Plaza Hotel on May 14, 1928, and her funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral and she was buried in the family vault in St Mark's Church in Manhattan.{{cite news |title=MRS. MARY NEILSON, SOCIAL LEADER, DIES; Widow of Frederic Neilson and Mother of R.C. Vanderbilt's First Wife Succumbs. SUFFERED STROKE YEAR AGO Was Prominent in Newport and New York--Daughter of Frederick Gebhard, Banker. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/05/15/91511798.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 1928 |language=en}}

Through her daughter Mary, she was the grandmother of Mary Isabelle Chiffon Kemp (1900–1965) and Hollis Horatio Hunnewell (1905–1982).{{cite news |title=A SON TO MRS. HUNNEWELL. She Was Mrs. Kemp and Divorced Mr. Kemp in 1903. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/02/03/101407509.pdf |access-date=21 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=February 3, 1905}}

Through her son Jules, she was the grandmother of Frederic William Gebhard Neilson (1904–1937), a Princeton University graduate who was an executive in the press department of the Bank of New York;{{cite journal |title=Obituary {{!}} Frederic William Neilson '27 |journal=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=1937 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KhNbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50 |access-date=21 January 2019 |language=en}} Alexander Meldrum Neilson (1906–1938); and Isabelle Neilson (1909–1982).

Through her youngest daughter Cathleen, she was the grandmother of Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904–1944),{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904–1944) was the older half-sister of Gloria Vanderbilt (b. 1924),{{cite news|title=CUSHING CHILD BAPTIZED.; One of the Sponsors Is Mrs. Vanderbilt -- Vanderbilt Christening Today.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/15/archives/cushing-child-baptized-one-of-the-sponsors-is-mrs-vanderbilt.html|access-date=21 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 May 1924}} the fashion designer who married Pasquale DiCicco (1909–1978) in 1941. They divorced in 1945 and that same year she married Leopold Anthony Stokowski (1882–1977). They divorced in 1955 and a year later, in 1956, she married Sidney Arthur Lumet (1924–2011). In 1963, they also divorced and, that same year, she married Wyatt Emory Cooper (1927–1978).{{cite news |last1=Kleiman |first1=Dena |title=Wyatt Cooper Dies; Screenplay Writer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/06/archives/wyatt-cooper-dies-screenplay-writer-coauthor-of-chapman-report-and.html |access-date=18 January 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=6 January 1978}}}} who married Henry Cooke Cushing III in 1923. After their divorce in 1932, she married Lawrence Wise Lowman in 1932.{{cite news|title=DIVORCE FOR MRS. LOWMAN; Former Cathleen Vanderbilt Gets Decree in Cuban Court|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/09/archives/divorce-for-mrs-lowman-former-cathleen-vanderbilt-gets-decree-in.html|access-date=21 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=9 June 1940}} They divorced that same year and in 1940, she married for the third and final time to Martin Arostegui.{{cite news|title=MRS. C.V. LOWMAN MARRIED IN HAVANA; Daughter of the Late Reginald Vanderbilt and First Wife Wed to Martin Arostegui|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/10/10/archives/mrs-cv-lowman-married-in-havana-daughter-of-the-late-reginald.html|access-date=21 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 October 1940}}{{cite news|title=MRS. M. AROSTEGUI, A VANDERBILT, DIES; Inherited With Mrs. di Cicco Bulk of $7,000,000 Estate of Father, Reginald Vanderbilt|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/27/archives/mrs-irostegui-i-nerbilt-dies-inherited-with-mrs-di-cicco-bulk-of.html|access-date=21 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=1944}}

Notes

{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

Sources

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Find a Grave|178397467}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Isabelle Gebhard}}

Category:1850s births

Category:1928 deaths

Category:American socialites

Category:Social leaders