Ward McAllister#"The Four Hundred"

Born Samuel Ward McAllister to a socially prominent Savannah, Georgia, judicial family, his parents were Matthew Hall McAllister (1800–1865) and Louisa Charlotte (née Cutler) McAllister (1801–1869).

Through his maternal aunt, Julia Rush Cutler, and her husband, Samuel Ward, McAllister was a first cousin of Julia Ward Howe and Samuel Cutler Ward, the lobbyist whose first wife, Emily Astor, had been the daughter of William Backhouse Astor Sr. and a granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. His maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clark Cutler, Norfolk County Sheriff, and Sarah (née Mitchell) Cutler.

In 1850, McAllister traveled to California with his father during the Gold Rush and became one of the partners in the law firm McAllister & Sons.{{cite web|title=Samuel Ward McAllister (1827-1895)|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/samuel-ward-mcallister-1827-1895|website=www.nyhistory.org|publisher=New-York Historical Society|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}}

Image:Ward McAllister caricature.jpg he must imitate "an English snob of the 19th century" or he "will nevah be a gentleman". Published in Judge, November 8, 1890.]]

McAllister wrote that after his marriage in 1853, he bought a farm on Narragansett Bay, planted trees and left for a three-year journey throughout Europe's great cities and spas—Bath, Pau, Bad Nauheim, and the like—where he observed the mannerisms of other wealthy Americans and titled nobility, returning to New York with his wife and two small children on October 15, 1858.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|McAllister wrote (Chapter IV) that this trip included London and then Paris for the Universal Exposition of 1855 (incorrectly referenced by him as 1857) followed by the baptism of the Imperial Prince on June 11, 1856. If he attended both events in Paris, he would have returned to Paris after his first European winter (1855-1856) spent on the Arno River. He employees first person plural for payment of meals, indicating his family was with him possibly until their return in October 1858. His second and third winters (1856-57 and 1857-58) were at Pau. (Chapter VI) }}{{cite news |title=Personal Intelligence / Americans registered with American European Express and Exchange Company, Paris, from 26 May - 3 June 1856|work=New York Herald|date=June 22, 1856|page=8}}{{cite web|title=New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957|website=www.ancestry.com|url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/22691965?h=4393fc|access-date=January 21, 2021|language=en}} Using his wife's wealth and his own social connections, he sought to become a tastemaker amongst New York's "Knickerbocracy", a collection of old merchant and landowning families who traced their lineage back to the days of colonial New Amsterdam.{{cite book |last=Vanderbilt II |first=Arthur T. |title=Fortune's Children |publisher=Wm. Morrow and Co. |year=1989 |pages=90–93. |isbn=0-688-07279-8}} Above all in his life was his desire for social recognition by what he termed the Ton, i.e., the cream of society.{{cite book |last1=Hitchcock|first1=Jane Stanton|title=Social Crimes|date=2012|publisher=Harper Paperbacks|location=New York|isbn=9780062206565}}

Although purported to be an index of New York's best families, McAllister's list was suspiciously top-heavy with nouveau riche industrialists and his southern allies, seeking a new start in the nation's financial capital after the American Civil War. In his glory, he referred to his patroness, Caroline Astor as his "Mystic Rose".Vanderbilt, 97. He was an early summer colonist of Newport, Rhode Island, and was largely responsible for turning the town into a Mecca for the pleasure-seeking, status-conscious rich of the Gilded Age. His gift for party and picnic planning soon made him a society darling.{{cite book |last=Gavan |first=Terrence |title=The Barons of Newport: A Guide to the Gilded Age |publisher= Pineapple Publications |location=Newport |year=1998 |page=11 |isbn=0-929249-06-2}}

Among the undesirables McAllister endeavored to exclude from the charmed circle of the Four Hundred were the many nouveau riche Midwesterners who poured into New York seeking social recognition. In 1893, he wrote a column about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in which he urged that if Chicago society hostesses wanted to be taken seriously, they should hire French chefs and "not frappé their wine too much".{{cite web |title=When Ward McAllister Sauced Chicago |url=https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2022/02/18/when-ward-mcallister-sauced-chicago-part-1/ |website=worldsfairchicago1893.com/ |access-date=February 20, 2022 |date=February 18, 2022}}{{cite book|last1=Dedmon|first1=Emmett|title=Fabulous Chicago: A Great City's History and People|date=2012|publisher=Garrett County Press|isbn=9781891053634|page=259|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GsQXaV1oFIC&pg=PT259|access-date=April 2, 2018|language=en}} The Chicago Journal replied: "The mayor will not frappé his wine too much. He will frappé it just enough so the guests can blow the foam off the tops of the glasses without a vulgar exhibition of lung and lip power. His ham sandwiches, sinkers, and ... pigs' feet, will be triumphs of the gastronomic art."{{cite book|last1=Larson|first1=Erik|title=The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America|date=2004|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9781400076314|page=209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJp22rZDOZQC&pg=PA209|access-date=April 2, 2018|language=en}}{{cite news|title=Ward M'allister's Triumph; His Work as As A "Society Reporter" Excites Much Gossip. Other Newspaper Men Received at the Patriarchs' Ball with Chilliness--For Mr. McAllister Did Not Wish Them to Obtain Descriptions of the Women's Dresses--His Story of the Ball a Prose Poem--Some of the Choicest Gems from His Pen.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/12/15/archives/ward-mallisters-triumph-his-work-as-a-society-reporter-excites-much.html|access-date=April 2, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=December 15, 1893}}

McAllister's downfall came when he published a book of memoirs entitled Society as I Have Found It in 1890.Ward McAllister (1890) [https://archive.org/details/societyasihavef00mcalgoog Society as I Have Found It], Cassell, New York The book, and his hunger for media attention, did little to endear him to the old guard, who valued their privacy in an era when millionaires were the equivalent of modern movie stars.

McAllister coined the phrase "The Four Hundred" by declaring that there were "only 400 people in fashionable New York Society".{{cite book|last1=Salvini|first1=Emil R.|title=Hobey Baker: American Legend|date=2005|publisher=Hobey Baker Memorial Foundation|isbn=9780976345305|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mocbzPmUjSMC&pg=PA3|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}} According to him, this was the number of people in New York who really mattered; the people who felt at ease in the ballrooms of high society. "If you go outside that number", he warned, "you strike people who are either not at ease in a ballroom or else make other people not at ease". The number was popularly supposed to be the capacity of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor's ballroom.Vanderbilt, 98.{{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=October 20, 2017|language=en}} The lavish parties were held at the Astor mansion.{{cite magazine |last=Parker |first=Maggie |title=The Four Hundred: Then and Now Tony Abrams has reinvented Gilded Age society. Will you get in? |url=http://dujour.com/news/four-hundred-society-secrets/ |magazine=Dujour |access-date= September 22, 2018}}

On February 16, 1892, McAllister named the official list of The Four Hundred 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=March 26, 2017 |work=The New York Times|date=February 16, 1892|language=en}} The Four Million, the title of a book by O. Henry, was a reaction to this phrase, expressing O. Henry's opinion that every human being in New York was worthy of notice.

In 1872, McAllister founded the "Society of Patriarchs" which was a group of 25 gentlemen from New York Society. The group of 25 were "representative men of worth, respectability, and responsibility".{{cite news |last1=Bryk |first1=William |title=The Father of the Four Hundred |url=https://www.nysun.com/arts/father-of-the-four-hundred/18321/ |access-date=April 2, 2018|work=The New York Sun|date=August 8, 2005}} Beginning with the 1885–1886 season,{{cite news |title=Society Topics of the Week. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/01/03/archives/society-topics-of-the-week.html|access-date=April 2, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=January 3, 1886}} the Patriarchs threw a ball each year, known as the Patriarchs Ball, which each member was entitled to invite four ladies and five gentlemen to, thereby establishing the invitees as fit for society.{{cite book |last1=Vanderbilt|first1=Arthur T.|title=Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt |date=1991 |publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=9780688103866|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VPbJX288i-kC|access-date=April 2, 2018 |language=en}} The first Patriarchs Ball was held at Delmonico's,{{cite book|last1=Hicks|first1=Paul DeForest|title=John E. Parsons: An Eminent New Yorker in The Gilded Age|date=2016|publisher=Easton Studio Press, LLC|isbn=9781632260741|page=97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6XLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT97b|access-date=April 2, 2018 |language=en}} with the Balls, which were difficult to obtain invitations to, receiving significant press coverage.{{cite news|title=The Patriarchs' Ball; a Brilliant Scene at Delmonico's Last Night.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/01/18/archives/the-patriarchs-ball-a-brilliant-scene-at-delmonicos-last-night.html|access-date=April 2, 2018 |work=The New York Times|date=January 18, 1888}}{{cite news|title=The Patriarchs' Guests; a Notable Social Event at Delmonico's. Debutantes at the Ball--a New Cotillion--Visitors from Other Cities--the Decorations.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1889/12/17/archives/the-patriarchs-guests-a-notable-social-event-at-delmonicos.html|access-date=April 2, 2018 |work=The New York Times|date=17 December 1889}}{{cite news|title=Patriarchs Were Hosts; Their Third and Last Ball of the Season a Success. Many Distinguished Guests Made the Occasion Delightful -- Choice Music and Tasteful Decorations at Delmonico's.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/02/10/archives/patriarchs-were-hosts-their-third-and-last-ball-of-the-season-a.html|access-date=April 2, 2018|work=The New York Times |date=February 10, 1891}}{{cite news|title=Society Ends the Season; the Third of the Patriarchs' Balls a Great Success. Throngs of Dancers at Delmonico's -- a Late Cotillion Led by Mr. Dyer -- the Guests from Other Cities.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/03/01/archives/society-ends-the-season-the-third-of-the-patriarchs-balls-a-great.html |access-date=April 2, 2018 |work=The New York Times|date=March 1, 1892}} The Patriarchs Ball inspired similar balls, including the Ihpetonga Ball, which was considered "the most important social event of the season in Brooklyn".{{cite news|title=PREPARATION FOR THE IHPETONGA; The Most Important Social Event of the Season in Brooklyn -- Patronesses and Subscribers. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1896/01/10/archives/preparation-for-the-ihpetonga-the-most-important-social-event-of.html |access-date=April 2, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=January 10, 1896}}

The Society dissolved two years after McAllister's death in 1897 due to a lack of interest.

On March 15, 1853, McAllister married a Georgia-born heiress who was then living in Madison, New Jersey, Sarah Taintor Gibbons (1829–1909), the daughter of William Gibbons (1794–1852) and Abigail Louisa (née Taintor) Gibbons (1791–1844).{{cite web |title=U.S., Marriage Records, 1670–1965 |website=www.ancestry.com |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/22692037?h=b670a1 |publisher=New Jersey |access-date=January 20, 2021|language=en}}{{cite book |last = Cunningham |first=John T. |title=Images of America: Madison |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Dover, New Hampshire |year=1998 |pages=19, 31 |isbn=9780738567792 }}{{cite web |title=William Gibbons – Drew University History – U-KNOW |url=https://uknow.drew.edu/confluence/display/DrewHistory/William+Gibbons |website=uknow.drew.edu |publisher=Drew University |access-date=February 23, 2018}} Her grandfather was politician, lawyer, and steamboat owner Thomas Gibbons.{{cite book |last1=McAllister|first1=Ward |title=Society as I Have Found it |date=1890 |publisher=Cassell Publishing Company |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/societyasihavef00mcalgoog |access-date=October 21, 2017|language=en}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Sarah's grandfather, Thomas Gibbons, was the plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Gibbons v. Ogden and was a mentor to Cornelius Vanderbilt.}} Her father built the Gibbons Mansion in Madison, New Jersey, which her brother sold to Daniel Drew after their father's death, and which Drew donated to found Drew Theological Seminary (now known as Drew University).{{cite web|url=http://www.drew.edu/fomh/history|title=A brief history of Mead Hall |publisher=Drew University |access-date=September 1, 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024133534/http://www.drew.edu/fomh/history|archive-date=October 24, 2013}}

Together, Ward and Sarah were the parents of:{{cite book |last1=McAllister|first1=Mary Catharine |title=Descendants of Archibald McAllister of West Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pa. 1730–1898 |date=1898 |publisher=Scheffer |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rzc3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51 |access-date=January 8, 2018|language=en}}

• Louise Ward McAllister (1854–1923),{{cite news|title=Mrs. Louise W. McAllister Lewis.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/10/22/archives/mrs-louise-w-mcallister-lewis.html|access-date=October 31, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=October 22, 1923}}{{cite news|title=Estate of Ward McAllister's Only Daughter Appraised at $471,270; Bulk Goes to Husband|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/04/01/archives/estate-of-ward-mcallisters-only-daughter-appraised-at-471270-bulk.html|access-date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times|date=April 1, 1925}} who in 1920 married A. Nelson Lewis, a linguist who owned the 600 acre "old Lewis estate" at Havre de Grace, Maryland that had been in the family since 1806.{{cite news|title=MISS M'ALLISTER WED TO A.N. LEWIS; Daughter of Late Creator of "New York's 400" Married Quietly at the Waldorf. ONLY 3 COUSINS PRESENT Bride-to-Be, Recovering from Influenza, Was Ordered South and Ceremony Hurriedly Arranged.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/05/04/archives/miss-mallister-wed-to-an-lewis-daughter-of-late-creator-of-new.html |access-date=October 21, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 4, 1920}} She was engaged to George Barclay Ward (1845–1906){{cite book |last1=Moffat|first1=R. Burnham|title=The Barclays of New York: Who They Are And Who They Are Not, – And Some Other Barclays |date=1904|publisher=R. G. Cooke |page=[https://archive.org/details/barclaysnewyork01moffgoog/page/n163 151]|url=https://archive.org/details/barclaysnewyork01moffgoog|access-date=February 27, 2018 |language=en}} at the time of his death in 1907.{{cite news|title=WHY G.B. WARD DIED UNWED.; His Fiancee Clung to Her Sick Mother – Ready to Forego Dower.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/01/21/archives/why-gb-ward-died-unwed-his-fiancee-clung-to-her-sick-mother-ready.html |access-date=February 27, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=January 21, 1907}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|George Barclay Ward, the son of Susan Barclay Parsons (1822–1893) and Montagnie Ward (1812–1879), cousin of William Barclay Parsons and brother-in-law of Luther Kountze, was a widower of Jane Mary de Pau (1848–1886), with whom he had three children. Louise and George were engaged for fifteen to eighteen years before his death.}}
• Ward McAllister Jr. (1855–1908), an 1880 Harvard Law School graduate,{{cite book|last1=Warren|first1=Charles|title=History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America|date=1908|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|isbn=9781584770060|page=380|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GbD_J57LbQC&pg=RA2-PA380 |access-date=February 27, 2018 |language=en}}{{cite book|title=The Railway World|date=1880|publisher=United States Railroad and Mining Register Company|page=520|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYFRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA520|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}} who became a San Francisco lawyer who served as the first Federal district judge of the Territory of Alaska,{{cite book |last1=Harring|first1=Sidney L.|title=Crow Dog's Case: American Indian Sovereignty, Tribal Law, and United States Law in the Nineteenth Century|date=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521467155|page=219|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHe_Ez7JXY4C&pg=PA219|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}} beginning in 1884 and was responsible for the arrest of Sheldon Jackson.{{cite book|title=Alaska Bar Association and Sketch of Judiciary|date=1901|publisher=Sanborn, Vail & Company|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdoUAAAAYAAJ |access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Haycox|first1=Stephen|title=Alaska: An American Colony|date=2006|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295986296|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=natRq6WCu4oC&pg=PA193|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Gruening|first1=Ernest|title=An Alaskan Reader, 1867-1967|date=1967|publisher=Meredith Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alaskanreader18600grue/page/62 62]-63|url=https://archive.org/details/alaskanreader18600grue|url-access=registration |access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Appointed by President Chester Arthur "through the political pull" of his friends including the Alaska Commercial Company, Judge McAllister, an alcoholic, was removed from office after a year on the bench due to his indiscretions. Although incorrectly referred to as McAllister's nephew instead of his son, he was described "a man of enormous power" who was incompetent.}}
• Heyward Hall McAllister (1859–1925),{{cite news|title=H. H. M'ALLISTER DIES IN FRANCE; Last Surviving Son of Late Leader of the Famous "400" Was III Two Years. FORMERLY A BROKER HERE Union Club Member's Marriage to Miss Melanle Renke in 1908 a Surprise to His Family.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/02/archives/h-h-miluster-dies-in-frihce-last-surviving-son-of-late-leader-of.html |access-date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=December 2, 1925}} who married Janie Champion Garmany (b. 1867){{cite web|title=Philip Alexius De László (1869–1937), Portrait of Jean Garmany Brandt (b. 1867)|url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/philip-alexius-de-laszlo-1869-1937-portrait-5521071-details.aspx|website=www.christies.com |access-date=February 27, 2018 |language=en}} of Savannah in 1892.{{cite news|title=Mr. M'Allister and Wife.; Rumor Has It That the Young Couple Will Separate|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/09/21/archives/mr-mallister-and-wife-rumor-has-it-that-the-young-couple-will.html |access-date=February 27, 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=September 21, 1892}} In what became a minor scandal when it was made public, the couple was secretly wed first in 1884, then in 1887,{{cite news |title=SHOCKING BAD FORM. Ward McAllister's Son Gets Married and Tells Nobody. |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18920513.2.16 |access-date=February 27, 2018 |work=San Francisco Call |date=May 13, 1892}} and lastly in 1892.{{cite news|title=Why It Was Made Known; Story of the M'allister-Garmany Marriage Notice. Its Publication Demanded by Frank Garmany, a Brother of the Wife – a Strange Affair from Beginning to End – Off on a Tour.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/05/14/archives/why-it-was-made-known-story-of-the-mallistergarmany-marriage-notice.html |access-date=February 27, 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=May 14, 1892}} They later divorced{{cite news|title=Brandt – McAllister.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1898/05/05/archives/brandt-mcallister.html |access-date=February 27, 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=May 5, 1898}} and he married Melanie Jeanne Renke (d. 1939),{{cite news|title=Mrs. Heyward M'Allister |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/09/15/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|access-date=February 27, 2018|work=The New York Times |date=September 15, 1939}} who was born in France and did not speak English, in 1908.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|His first wife, Janie or Jennie, remarried in 1898 to Augustus Philip Brandt of William Brandt's Sons and Co.}}

Ward McAllister died while dining alone, and in social disgrace for his writings, at New York's Union Club, in January 1895.{{cite news|title=WARD M'ALLISTER DEAD; He Had Been Ill for a Week with an Attack of the Grip. THE END WAS UNEXPECTED His Condition Not Considered Serious by His Physicians Until Wednesday Morning – His Long Career as a Society Leader.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/02/01/archives/ward-mallister-dead-he-had-been-ill-for-a-week-with-an-attack-of.html |access-date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times|date=February 1, 1895}} His funeral, held on February 5, 1895, was well attended by many society figures of the day, including Chauncey Depew and Cornelius Vanderbilt II.{{cite book |last=Homberger |first=Eric |title=Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2002 |pages=150–152 |isbn=0-300-09501-5}} McAllister is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.{{cite news |title=SOCIETY IN MOURNING; Ward McAllister's Death Came Almost Without Warning. A LIVING "TRILBY" TO BE SEEN Success of the Charity Ball – Some of Its Leaders in the Past – Incidents in the Social World.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/02/03/archives/society-in-mourning-ward-mcallisters-death-came-almost-without.html |access-date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times|date=February 3, 1895}}{{cite news|title=MR. M'ALLISTER'S FUNERAL; Grace Church Crowded with Friends and Relatives. SOCIETY WAS WELL REPRESENTED The Body Placed in a Vault in Greenwood Cemetery – Women Scramble for Flowers in the Church.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/02/05/archives/mr-mallisters-funeral-grace-church-crowded-with-friends-and.html |access-date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=February 5, 1895}}

In 1907, Sarah was described as having been an invalid for 25 years.

Ward McAllister is portrayed by Nathan Lane in the American television series The Gilded Age.

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• {{Gutenberg author | id=48269 |name=Ward McAllister}}
• {{Librivox author |id=16403}}
• [http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/samuel-ward-mcallister-1827-1895 1877 Portrait of McAllister] by Adolphe Yvon at the New-York Historical Society
• {{find a Grave|32148673}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060830155350/http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Ema01/davis/newport/biographies/mcallister.html McCallister biography] at "Class and Leisure at America's First Resort"

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Category:1827 births

Category:1895 deaths

Category:American socialites

Category:Gilded Age

Category:People from Savannah, Georgia