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Grace Wilson
b.3 Sep 1870 New York, New York, United States
d.8 Jan 1953 New York, New York, United States
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m. 1896
Facts and Events
Grace Graham Vanderbilt ( Wilson; September 3, 1870 – January 7, 1953) was an American socialite. She was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. She was one of the last Vanderbilts to live the luxurious life of the "head of society" that her predecessors such as Alice and Alva Vanderbilt enjoyed.[1]
She was born Grace Graham Wilson on September 3, 1870, she was the youngest child of New York banker Richard T. Wilson. She eloped with Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III in 1896. This led to a violent disagreement between Neily and his father, which lasted many years. Neily and Grace Vanderbilt remained married for the rest of their lives and had two children, Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, who would marry seven times, and a daughter, Grace Vanderbilt II (September 25, 1899 – January 28, 1964). She and her husband inherited Neily's grandfather's famous New York City townhouse, one of the biggest homes in the city, besides Neily's father's mansion. The mansion had over 80 rooms and a massive art gallery. Upon seeing the home for the first time she exclaimed "Why, it's the Black Hole of Calcutta" and she hired architect Horace Trumbauer to redo all of the rooms, keeping only the large malachite vase in the great hall. The renovation costs totaled $500,000. Following the War, she and her husband frequently returned to Europe, becoming friends and guests of numerous members of European royalty including Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and his brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, King Albert I of Belgium, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, Queen Marie of Romania, Reza Pahlavi of Iran, and every British monarch since Queen Victoria. In 1940, Because he could no longer afford it, Neily sold his Fifth Avenue mansion in New York City to members of the Astor family but remained living there until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage while vacationing in Miami Beach, Florida aboard his yacht in 1942. Following Neily's death Grace Vanderbilt was forced to move out of their massive Fifth Avenue mansion, which by that time had been the only private residence in that part of town and was surrounded by skyscrapers on all sides, and moved into a mansion at 1048 Fifth Avenue, which she called "The Gardener's cottage. Grace lived another eleven years, and she died on January 7, 1953. They are buried together in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum in the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp on Staten Island, New York. References
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