Muriel Vanderbilt

Muriel Vanderbilt (November 23, 1900 – February 3, 1972) was an American socialite and a thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder who was a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.[1][2]

Muriel Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, 1915
Born(1900-11-23)November 23, 1900
New York, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1972(1972-02-03) (aged 71)
Florida, United States
OccupationHeiress, racehorse owner/breeder
Spouse(s)
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(m. 1925; div. 1929)​

Henry Delafield Phelps
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(m. 1931; div. 1936)​

John Payson Adams
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(m. after 1944, died)​
Parent(s)William Kissam Vanderbilt II
Virginia Graham Fair
FamilyVanderbilt

Early life

Muriel was born on November 23, 1900 in New York City. She was the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878–1944) and Virginia Graham Fair (1875–1935).[3] Her paternal grandparents were William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt was her uncle and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough until her divorce from Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1921, was her aunt.

Her maternal grandfather, James Graham Fair, was a United States Senator from Nevada who made a large fortune investing in silver mines on the Comstock Lode.[4]

Her parents separated when she was a small girl and she would grow up on Long Island and on the West Coast of the United States where her mother had been born.[5]

Career

She shared her father and grandfather Vanderbilt's love of horses. Her mother was also a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing and established Fair Stable that in 1924 and 1925 won back-to-back Horse of the Year honors with Sarazen.

She owned a ranch near Carmel, California where she built stables and kept thoroughbred racehorses. In 1930, it was reported that she received permission by the Chief of police of Middletown to carry a pistol after riding breeches were stolen from her.[6]

In 1947, with her third husband, she bought Edenvale Farms, a horse farm south of San Jose, California where she bred and raised Thoroughbreds and built her own private training track. Her horse, Miche, won the 1952 Santa Anita Handicap and Desert Trial captured several important West Coast stakes including back-to-back editions of the Ramona Handicap. In 1956, she sold Edenvale Farm to Samuel Hamburger of San Francisco, for $650,000, who in turn sold it to real estate developers for approximately $1 million.[7]

Later in life, Muriel Vanderbilt Adams owned an 80-acre (320,000 m2) horse farm in Marion County, Florida. Bred and trained at her Ocala farm in 1970, Desert Vixen was the most famous horse she ever owned and bred and in 1979 the filly was inducted into the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The farm is now part of the exclusive gated community, Jumbolair.

Personal life

Muriel Vanderbilt married three times, the first in 1925 to Frederic Cameron Church, Jr., a Boston insurance executive.[8] The marriage ended in divorce in 1929 and in September 1931, she married New Yorker Henry Delafield Phelps (1902–1976).[9] Divorced from her second husband in 1936, she married for a third time in 1944 to John Payson Adams.

Muriel died in Florida on February 3, 1972 at the age of seventy-one.[7]

References
  1. "NEW VANDERBILT HEIRESS.; A Daughter Born to Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.", The New York Times, New York, NY, November 25, 1900
  2. "What is Doing in Society", The New York Times, New York, NY, January 25, 1901, Muriel Vanderbilt was the name given yesterday afternoon to the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, born on Nov. 23. The christening took place in the private chapel on the top floor of Archbishop Corrigan's residence.
  3. "Vanderbilt's Divorced Wife Dies In N. Y." Baltimore Sun. July 8, 1935. Retrieved 2011-05-30. Mrs. Graham Fair Vanderbilt, daughter of a Nevada silver millionaire and first wife of the explorer-yachtsman William K. Vanderbilt, died of pneumonia and anemia today at her East Ninety-third street home. ...
  4. "EX-SENATOR FAIR IS DEAD; His Fatal Illness of But Very Brief Duration. AN ESTATE OF FORTY MILLIONS One of the Earliest Victims of the Gold Fever, He Turned His Attention to Silver and Made a Fortune.", The New York Times, New York, New York, 1894-12-30
  5. "Mrs. Vanderbilt Dies In Home Here. Former Wife of W. K. 2d, Long Social Leader in New York, Had Been Ill Nine Weeks". New York Times. July 8, 1935. Retrieved 2011-05-30. Virginia Fair Vanderbilt was one of three children of Senator Fair, who died in San Francisco in 1894, leaving an estate estimated to be worth more than ...
  6. Times, Special To The New York (21 January 1930). "Muriel Vanderbilt Church Goes Armed in Rhode Island". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. "Mrs. Muriel Vanderbilt Adams, Society Leader, Dies in Florida", The New York Times, New York, NY, p. 34, February 4, 1972
  8. Times, Special To The New York (5 July 1929). "MRS. CHURCH DRIVES COACH AT NEWPORT; Vanderbilt Heiress and Party Applauded at Her First Public Appearance. PRINCESS BRAGANZA GUEST Hostess Entertains at the Country Club--Mrs. Church Also Drives to Airport Opening". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. "MRS. PHELPS LOSES A $5,000 BRACELET; Former Muriel Vanderbilt Says She Missed Gem From Handbag Last Tuesday. A GIFT FROM RELATIVE Denies That It Is Worth $50,000 -- Was Visiting Her Mother Here When It Disappeared". The New York Times. 25 January 1932. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
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