Marshall Orme Wilson

Marshall Orme Wilson (June 20, 1860 – April 1, 1926)[1] was an American banker and prominent member of New York Society during the Gilded Age.[2]

Marshall Orme Wilson
1894 Portrait of Wilson by Léon Bonnat
Born(1860-06-20)June 20, 1860
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedApril 1, 1926(1926-04-01) (aged 65)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery
Alma materColumbia University
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1884)​
ChildrenMarshall Orme Wilson Jr.
Richard Thornton Wilson III
Parent(s)Richard Thornton Wilson Sr.
Melissa Clementine Johnston

Early life
Photograph of Wilson's wife, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, from the Library of Congress.

Wilson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 20, 1860. He was the eldest surviving son born to Richard Thornton Wilson Sr. and Melissa Clementine Johnston.[3] His father was a multimillionaire investment banker originally from Loudon, Tennessee who served on the staff of Lucius B. Northrop, the Commissary-General of the Confederate States of America and invested in railways following the end of the War.[4] His parents resided at 511 Fifth Avenue, the former home of Boss Tweed.[5]

Because of Wilson and his siblings' many advantageous marriages, the Wilsons were known in New York and Newport society as the "Marrying Wilsons." His sister Grace Graham Wilson married Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III of the Vanderbilt family.[6][lower-alpha 1] His brother, Richard Thornton Wilson Jr.,[7] was married to Marion Steedman Mason (1875–1947).[8] Wilson's other two sisters, Belle Wilson, was married to the Honourable Sir Michael Henry Herbert,[9] the British Ambassador to the United States during Theodore Roosevelt's administration and the brother of the Earl of Pembroke,[10][11] and Mary Wilson, who was married to New York real estate heir, Ogden Goelet,[12] and were the parents of Wilson's niece, Mary Goelet, who married the Duke of Roxburghe.[7][13]

Career

In 1882, Wilson graduated from Columbia University.[2] Upon his graduation, he joined his father's firm, R. T. Wilson & Co. as a banker.[1]

Along with his wife, a daughter of New York Society leader Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, Wilson was considered a social leader in both New York and Newport, Rhode Island.[14] He was a member of the Knickerbocker Club, the Church, and the Automobile of America.[2] In 1894, Wilson was painted by Léon Bonnat, in a work now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[15]

Personal life
The Wilson's residence at 3 East 64th Street.

In the early 1880s, Wilson met and fell in love with Caroline Schermerhorn "Carrie" Astor and they endeavored to be wed.[5] As he was a son of a Southerner and Civil War profiteer, the Astors disapproved of the marriage.[5] Reportedly, Carrie "starved herself into bulimia until her mother gave in and agreed to the marriage."[5]

On November 18, 1884,[16] Wilson was married Carrie Astor at the Astor mansion.[17][18] Carrie, a great-granddaughter of John Jacob Astor, was the youngest daughter of William Backhouse Astor Jr. and Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, leader of the "Four Hundred". Among her siblings was brother Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who died aboard the RMS Titanic.[19] Together, Orme and Carrie had two sons;[1][20] Marshall Orme Wilson Jr. in 1885[21]—who was appointed United States Ambassador to Haiti by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944[22]—and Richard Thornton Wilson III in 1886.

Wilson died on April 1, 1926, in New York City.[1] His funeral service was held at the Trinity Chapel on 25th Street and was officiated by Bishop William T. Manning where the choir of Trinity Church sang the hymns "Nearer, My God, to Thee." He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.[23] In his will, his wife received their residence and all of its belongings, and his sons inherited the residual estate, including the funds left by his father in trust for his sons, thereby avoiding Federal or State inheritance tax on the principal.[14]

Residences
Main article: Marshall Orme Wilson House

After his marriage to Carrie, the couple moved into a new home at 414 Fifth Avenue purchased by her father for them as a wedding present and furnished by his father.[24]

Following his mother-in-law and brother-in-law's feud with Carrie's cousin William Waldorf Astor,[lower-alpha 2] Wilson hired the architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore to design a residence on East 64th Street.[25] The house, which began construction in 1900 was completed in 1903, was in close proximity of other Astor family residences, including Mrs. Astor's home designed by Richard Morris Hunt around the corner on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 65th Street.[26] The residence had a Beaux Arts facade of Indiana Limestone and a mansard roof of blue slate and is five stories tall, sixty-five feet wide consisting of five bays, and featured a circular atrium.[24]

Notes
  1. Neily's sister Gertrude was married to prominent horseman Harry Payne Whitney.
  2. The feud originated with the use of the phrase Mrs. Astor and led William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor IV

References
  1. "DIED. WILSON". The New York Times. 4 April 1926. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  2. "M. ORME WILSON DIES IN CITY HOME; A Leader in New York Society, Brother of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt. MARRIED CAROLINE ASTOR Eldest Son of Late Richard T. Wilson Was a Columbia Graduate and a Retired Banker". The New York Times. 2 April 1926. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  3. "RICHARD T. WILSON DEAD.; Aged Head of Banking House Had Long Suffered from Heart Disease". The New York Times. 26 November 1910. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. Joslin, Katherine (2009). Edith Wharton and the Making of Fashion. p. 53. ISBN 9781584657798. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  5. Madsen, Axel (2002). John Jacob Astor: America's First Multimillionaire. John Wiley & Sons. p. 280. ISBN 9780471009351. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  6. "Mrs. C. Vanderbilt Dies At Home Here. Leader of New York, Newport Society for Many Years Was Hostess to Royal Figures". New York Times. January 8, 1953. Retrieved 2011-05-28. Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, still recognized as the leader of New York and Newport society although inactive in recent years, died of pneumonia last night at her home, 1048 Fifth Avenue. She was believed to have been in her eighty-third year.....
  7. "RICHARD T. WILSON, TURF LEADER, DEAD; Brother of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Succumbs to Pneumonia in 63d Year. HAD HEADED BANKING FIRM President of Association to Improve Breed of Horses--Won Many Victories on Track. Son of New York Banker. His Greatest Turf Victory". The New York Times. 30 December 1929. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  8. "MRS. R.T. WILSON DEAD IN NEWPORT; Widow of Banker and Ex-Head of Saratoga Racing Group Was a Social Leader". The New York Times. 6 July 1947. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. "SIR MICHAEL'S FUNERAL; Body of Late Ambassador Interred Ambassador Choate Present at Ceremony -- Simultaneous Services at St. James's Palace -- Exercises in Washington". The New York Times. 7 October 1903. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  10. "Betrothed to an Earl's Brother". The New York Times. 29 June 1888. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  11. "Engaged to an Earl's Brother". The New York Times. 30 June 1888. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  12. "MRS. OGDEN GOELET DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Duchess of Roxburghe's Mother Long Noted for Her Lavish Entertaining. WAS HOSTESS TO ROYALTY Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, Among Guests--Sister of Mrs. Cornellus Vanderbilt and R.T. Wilson. Her Hospitality. Duchess of Roxburghe Daughter". The New York Times. 24 February 1929. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  13. "WILSON DEATH PUTS MANY IN MOURNING; Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and Mrs. Ogden Goelet Among Those Out of Social Activities". The New York Times. 27 November 1910. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  14. "SONS GET WILSON ESTATE.; Chief Beneficiaries Under the Late Social Leader's Will". The New York Times. 20 April 1926. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  15. Sullivan, Edward J. (2014). From San Juan to Paris and Back: Francisco Oller and Caribbean Art in the Era of Impressionism. Yale University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780300203202. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  16. Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: Who They Are And Who They Are Not, and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 207. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  17. "MRS. WILSON DEAD; LEADER IN SOCIETY | Great-Granddaughter of John J. Astor, Founder of Noted Family, Widow of Banker | KNOWN FOR LARGE PARTIES | Last of William's Children Aided Welfare Groups in City--Her Mother 'The' Mrs. Astor". The New York Times. 14 September 1948. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  18. "Mrs. Wilson Rites at Trinity Church". The New York Times. 16 September 1948. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  19. "Noted Men On The Lost Titanic. Col. Jacob Astor, with His Wife. Isidor Straus and Wife, and Benj. Guggenheim Aboard". The New York Times. April 16, 1912. Retrieved 2013-12-10. Following are sketches of a few of the well-known persons among the 1,300 passengers on the lost Titanic. The fate of most of them at this time is, of course, not known. Col. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Astor, Isidor Straus and Mrs. Straus, J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line: Benjamin Guggenheim, and Frank D. Millet, the artist, are perhaps the most widely known of the passengers.....
  20. Armstrong, Zella; French, Janie Preston Collup (1922). Notable Southern Families. Lookout Publishing Company. p. 210. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  21. "Orme Wilson Dead; Ex-Envoy to Haiti". The New York Times. 14 February 1966. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  22. "Orme Wilson Jr. - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  23. "MANY AT FUNERAL OF M. ORME WILSON; Bishop Manning and Drs. Stetson and Sutton Officiate--Burial in Woodlawn". The New York Times. 6 April 1926. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  24. Miller, Tom (23 January 2013). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The 1903 M. Orme Wilson House -- No. 3 E. 64th Street". daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com. Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  25. Trager, James (2010). The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present. Zondervan. p. 287. ISBN 9780062018601. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  26. "MRS. ORME WILSON'S HOUSEWARMING; Entertainment at New Residence on East 64th Street. Musicale Attended by Three Hundred Guests Follows a Dinner -- Some of Those Present". The New York Times. January 22, 1904. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
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