Self-portrait at Montorsoli, 1892 (December 31, 1842 - January 11, 1931) Portrait Painter. Giovanni Boldini was born on December 31, 1842 in Ferrara, Italy, the son of a painter of religious subjects and younger brother of the architect Luigi (Louis) Boldini. Showing early promise as an artist, he went to Florence in 1862 to study, though he only occasionally attended formal classes at the Academy of Fine Arts. In Florence he encountered the group of realist painters known as the Macchiaioli, precursors of Impressionism, whose quick, spontaneous style left a lasting mark on his own landscapes and brushwork. By the late 1860s Boldini had moved to London, where he built a reputation as a portraitist of fashionable society. His sitters included leading figures such as Lady Holland and the Duchess of Westminster. His portraits captured elegance and vitality, traits that became the hallmarks of his style. In 1872 he settled permanently in Paris. There he befriended Edgar Degas and immersed himself in the city's thriving artistic world. Boldini quickly became the most sought-after portrait painter of Belle Époque Paris, rivaling John Singer Sargent in both clientele and style. His paintings of high society women were marked by flowing lines, bravura brushstrokes, and a sense of energy that captured both likeness and spirit. His sitters included aristocrats, actresses, and members of the cosmopolitan elite, cementing his status as the "painter of the elegant." His career also brought him recognition beyond France. In 1889 he was appointed commissioner of the Italian section of the Paris Exposition and was awarded the Légion d'honneur for his service. He exhibited internationally, including a solo exhibition in New York in 1897, and participated in several Venice Biennales in 1895, 1903, 1905, and 1912. Boldini's style, blending Italian sensibility with Parisian modernity, made him one of the defining portraitists of his era. His paintings remain celebrated for their glamour, energy, and the psychological depth with which he portrayed his sitters. Alice Guérin's Portrait of Giovanni Boldini He died in Paris on January 11, 1931 at the age of 88. Giovanni Boldini is buried in the Certosa Monumental Cemetery in his native Ferrara, Italy.

Portrait of Consuelo Vanderbilt Earl, 1931 by Painter: Artur Lajos Halmi (November 24, 1903 - February 21, 2011) Consuelo Vanderbilt , known to family and friends as “Consie,” was born in Manhattan on November 24, 1903. She was the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt II and Virginia Graham Fair, daughter of U.S. Senator James Graham Fair of Nevada, one of the famed “Silver Kings” of the Comstock Lode. Consuelo Vanderbilt Through her father she was a great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the shipping and railroad magnate who established the Vanderbilt family fortune. She was raised in a family of immense privilege and prominence. Consie had two siblings: William Kissam Vanderbilt III, a noted yachtsman and automobile enthusiast who died tragically in an automobile accident in 1933, and Muriel Vanderbilt, who became a well-known socialite and thoroughbred horse breeder. On her maternal side, she was the niece of Theresa “Tessie” Fair Oelrichs, the celebrated Newport society leader whose mansion Rosecliff  became one of the most famous of the Gilded Age “cottages.” Her paternal uncle was Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, the last Vanderbilt to be directly involved in the family’s railroad empire and a three-time America’s Cup winner. These family connections placed Consie firmly within the center of both East Coast society and Western mining wealth. Earl Edward Tailer Smith In 1926, she married Earl Edward Tailer Smith, who later served as United States Ambassador to Cuba from 1957 to 1959 during the turbulent years of Fidel Castro’s rise to power. Smith published The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution  recounting his experiences. Together they had two daughters, Virginia Consuelo Smith (later Burke) and Iris Smith (later Christ). Her marriage to Smith ended in divorce, and in 1936 she married Henry Gassaway Davis III, grandson of U.S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia, the 1904 Democratic vice-presidential nominee. That union was also short-lived. In 1941 she wed William John Warburton III of Philadelphia society, though this marriage too was brief. In 1951 she married Noble Clarkson Earl, Jr., a businessman and sportsman. Together they established Iridale Farms  in Ridgefield, Connecticut, which became known for its livestock and, most notably, their champion Skye terriers. The Earls were longtime participants in dog shows and breed clubs, and their Ridgefield estate reflected Consie’s lifelong devotion to animals. She decorated the property with stone statues of dogs, and one room of her home was dedicated entirely to her beloved companions, complete with a fireplace inlaid with coins depicting dogs. Noble Clarkson Earl, Jr. died in 1969. Consuelo's Ridgefield Connecticut Estate Consie remained in Ridgefield for the rest of her life, becoming a respected and beloved figure in the community. She supported the Animal Medical Center in New York and other causes, continuing the Vanderbilt tradition of philanthropy. She was remembered for her elegance, humor, and vitality, as well as for her devotion to the welfare of animals. She celebrated her birthdays every year, often with cake and champagne, right up until her 107th in November 2010. She was among the last of her generation of Vanderbilts, and counted among her cousins Gloria Vanderbilt and Gloria’s son, journalist Anderson Cooper. Consuelo “Consie” Vanderbilt Earl died at her home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on February 21, 2011, at the remarkable age of 107. She was survived by her daughter Virginia Consuelo Smith Burke of Palm Beach, Florida, seven grandchildren, and eighteen great-grandchildren. Her daughter Iris predeceased her. She was laid to rest at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut,

Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt by Giovanni Boldini in 1905 (January 2, 1875 - July 7, 1935) Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt was born on January 2, 1875, in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Senator James Graham Fair, one of the famed "Bonanza Kings" of the Nevada Comstock Lode, and Theresa Rooney Fair. James Graham Fair Known as Birdie, she grew up surrounded by extraordinary wealth and prominence. Her father's fortune in silver mining made her one of the wealthiest young women in America, and she was regarded as one of the most admired heiresses of her generation. On March 26, 1903, she married William Kissam Vanderbilt II, eldest son of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt. The marriage united the Vanderbilt railroad fortune of the East with the Fair silver fortune of the West and was one of the most celebrated unions of its time. The couple had three children: Muriel Fair Vanderbilt, who became a philanthropist and horsewoman; Consuelo Vanderbilt, who lived a long and quiet life; and William Kissam Vanderbilt III, whose promising life was cut short by an automobile accident in 1933 at the age of twenty-six. Virginia and William separated after several years of marriage and were formally divorced in 1927. Following the separation, she began establishing residences of her own. On Long Island she built a large country estate in Jericho and Brookville, designed by the architect John Russell Pope in the early 1910s. The house was among the notable North Shore estates of its day, although it was later demolished. 60 East 93rd Street In New York City she commissioned a 51-room French Classical style townhouse at 60 East 93rd Street, completed in 1931, also designed by Pope. The residence reflected her taste and stature and later served as the home of the Lycée Français de New York before returning to private use. Beyond her private homes, Virginia maintained ties to San Francisco through the Fair family's role in the creation of the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Along with her sister, Theresa Fair Oelrichs, she oversaw its construction and later reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake. The hotel was named for their father and became a landmark of the city. Virginia was admired for her elegance, generosity, and devotion to her Roman Catholic faith. She supported a number of Catholic charities throughout her life and was remembered as a woman of quiet influence and dignity. Her later years, however, were clouded by personal sorrow. The sudden death of her son William in 1933 deeply affected her, and her health began to decline. She suffered a prolonged illness during the spring and summer of 1935 and died in New York City on July 7, 1935, at the age of sixty. Her funeral was a private service held at her New York residence, attended by family and close friends. Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, not far from her sister Theresa.

(June 11, 1851 - August 27, 1897) Ogden Goelet was born in New York City on June 11, 1851, the son of Robert Goelet and Sarah Ogden Goelet. He was a member of one of New York's wealthiest families, heirs to a fortune rooted in extensive Manhattan real estate holdings that had been built over generations. Alongside his brother, Robert Walton Goelet, he expanded this legacy, becoming known as both a financier and a developer at a time when the city was undergoing rapid growth. In 1877 Goelet married Mary Reta "May" Wilson. The couple had two children, Ogden Goelet Jr. and Mary Goelet, and were prominent figures in both New York and Newport society. In the early 1880s the Goelet brothers financed and constructed several notable buildings, including the Gorham Building , the Judge Building , the Goelet Building, and the Metropolitan Club . These projects not only reinforced their family's place among New York's leading landowners but also helped to shape the commercial architecture of late nineteenth-century Manhattan. Goelet was equally celebrated as a yachtsman. A member of the New York Yacht Club, he competed in regattas and established the Ogden Cup, awarded in the club's annual races off Newport, Rhode Island. the Mayflower His yacht, the Mayflower , was regarded as one of the finest sailing vessels of its day. After his death it was acquired by the United States Navy, serving as Admiral George Dewey's flagship during the Spanish-American War and later as a presidential yacht. Ochre Court In keeping with the traditions of New York's elite, Goelet built a grand summer residence in Newport. In the 1890s he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design Ochre Court, a French chateau-style mansion on Bellevue Avenue. At a cost of more than four million dollars, it was among the largest and most splendid homes of the Gilded Age, a centerpiece of Newport society life. The property was later donated by his family to the Religious Sisters of Mercy and today forms part of Salve Regina University. Ogden Goelet died suddenly aboard his yacht at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, on August 27, 1897, at the age of forty-six. He was entombed in the Goelet Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Goelet Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery Courtesy of Neil Funkhouser

(6 October 1878 – 26 April 1937) (Mary “May” Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, was born Mary Goelet on 6 October 1878 in New York City, the daughter of Ogden Goelet, a wealthy New York landlord, and Mary Wilson Goelet. She had one sibling, her younger brother Robert, who later built Glenmere Mansion. Through her parents she was connected to some of the most prominent families of the Gilded Age. Ogden Goelet On her mother’s side she was related to Richard Thornton Wilson Jr. and Grace Vanderbilt. On her father’s side she was the niece of Robert Goelet and cousin to Robert Walton Goelet, and a granddaughter of Robert Goelet Sr., co-founder of the Chemical Bank of New York. As a young woman she was often mentioned in society reports. In 1897 she was rumored to be engaged to William Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester, though he later married Helena Zimmerman. Another engagement rumor in 1898 linked her to Viscount Crichton, heir to the 4th Earl Erne, but that too came to nothing. Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe On 10 November 1903 she married Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe, son of the 7th Duke of Roxburghe and Lady Anne Spencer-Churchill, a daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. This marriage linked her to the Churchill family and made her a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill and of Consuelo Vanderbilt, who married the 9th Duke of Marlborough. At the time of her marriage she was considered the wealthiest American heiress, her dowry estimated at twenty million dollars. She was one of the celebrated “Dollar Princesses” of the era, American heiresses who married into the British nobility, and her fortune was exceeded only by Consuelo Vanderbilt. The Duke and Duchess made their home at Floors Castle in Scotland. She redecorated the ancient residence with her own collection, including a series of 17th century Gobelins tapestries. She was received at court and became a guest of both King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and later of King George V and Queen Mary at Windsor Castle. Floors Castle After ten years of marriage she gave birth to their only child, George Innes-Ker, who was born 7 September 1913 and who later succeeded as 9th Duke of Roxburghe. In 1929 she inherited three million dollars on the death of her mother, together with the important Goelet art collection. Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, died in London on 26 April 1937 at the age of 58. She was entombed at Kelso Abbey, Kelso, Scotland.

(May 27, 1794 - January 4, 1877) Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, on Staten Island, New York, the son of Cornelius and Phebe Hand Vanderbilt. A descendant of early Dutch settlers, he grew up working alongside his father, who operated a small boat between Staten Island and Manhattan. His formal schooling was limited, and from boyhood he devoted himself to life on the water, quickly proving himself ambitious and resourceful. Sophia Johnson Vanderbilt On December 19, 1813, he married his cousin Sophia Johnson. They became the parents of thirteen children: Phebe Jane, Ethelinda, Eliza, William Henry, Emily Almira, Maria Louisa, Frances Lavinia, Cornelius Jeremiah, George Washington, Mary Alicia, Catherine Juliette, and two who died young, Susan and Sophia. Through William Henry Vanderbilt, Cornelius became the patriarch of a dynasty that would remain one of America’s wealthiest families for generations. In 1817 he began working as a steamboat captain for Thomas Gibbons, who operated vessels between New Jersey and New York. By the late 1820s Vanderbilt had launched his own business, building and running steamships that served both passenger and freight traffic. During the California Gold Rush of the early 1850s, he created a route from New York to San Francisco by way of Nicaragua, which proved faster and less costly than competing services and added greatly to his fortune. In the 1860s he turned his attention to railroads. Consolidating numerous smaller lines, he forged them into a unified system, most notably the New York Central, which became one of the nation’s leading rail networks. His business battles with rival financiers such as Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, particularly during the Erie Railroad War, established his reputation as a determined and often ruthless competitor. Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt Sophia died in 1868, and the following year he married his cousin Frank Armstrong Crawford, a woman over forty years his junior. Frank was a devout Methodist and is believed to have influenced his decision to make his largest philanthropic gift, the $1 million endowment that established Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1873. By this time, he had largely withdrawn from day-to-day management of his business empire, spending his last years in New York overseeing his fortune and enjoying the comforts of wealth. Cornelius Vanderbilt died at his Manhattan home on January 4, 1877, at the age of eighty-two. His death was widely reported as the passing of one of America’s richest men, with an estate estimated at more than $100 million. His will was highly controversial: the vast majority of his fortune—about $95 million—was left to his son William Henry Vanderbilt, whom he considered the most capable of managing and preserving the family’s wealth. Smaller bequests were made to his other surviving children, and his widow Frank received an income and residence. The unequal distribution led to family disputes and legal challenges, though the will was ultimately upheld in court. Old Vanderbilt Tomb He was first laid to rest in the original Vanderbilt family tomb at Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp, Staten Island. In 1888, his remains, along with those of his parents, both wives, and daughter Frances, were transferred to the grand Vanderbilt Mausoleum in the Vanderbilt Cemetery, located beside Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp. His fortune and legacy placed him among the most powerful figures of the Gilded Age, and his name remains synonymous with American enterprise, ambition, and philanthropy. The Vanderbilt Mausoleum Just after Completion Above the crypt of Cornelius Vanderbilt the Carving of The Creator The Rear Half Of the Vanderbilt Mausoleum, Cornelius Vanderbilt's crypt is on the far right. Today the Vanderbilt Mausoleum is secured with Steel Doors & The Vents/Lighting domes at the top are sealed shut.

(March 2, 1877 - December 6, 1964) Consuelo Vanderbilt was born in New York City on March 2, 1877, the only daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt, heir to one of America’s greatest railroad fortunes, and Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, a southern-born socialite who became a force in New York society and later an ardent suffragist. Her Spanish name honored her godmother, the half-Cuban socialite María Consuelo Yznaga del Valle, whose friendship with the Vanderbilts reflected the tight-knit ties of the Gilded Age elite. Petit Chateau Consuelo grew up in the grand surroundings of her parents’ Fifth Avenue mansion and their country estates, including Idle Hour on Long Island. She was tall, strikingly beautiful, and heiress to a vast fortune, traits that made her one of the most sought-after young women of her generation. Yet her life was shaped less by her own choices than by the iron will of her mother, Alva. While Consuelo was deeply attached to Winthrop Rutherfurd and hoped to marry him, Alva arranged a marriage that would bring her daughter into the ranks of the British aristocracy. Idle Hour On November 6, 1895, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York, Consuelo married Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. The ceremony was one of the most glittering society events of the age, watched by thousands, but the bride was unwilling. Accounts recall her weeping behind her veil, coerced into the match by her mother’s insistence that it was her duty. The marriage produced two sons, John Albert Edward William Spencer-Churchill, later the 10th Duke of Marlborough, and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. Despite heirs and appearances, the marriage soon became one of convenience, as the Duke pursued his own interests and Consuelo, admired for her poise and beauty, adapted to life at Blenheim Palace, the vast ancestral seat of the Marlborough family. She became a popular figure in English society, admired by the public for her grace, but privately she endured a loveless union. Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough Her relationship with her mother was permanently marked by this episode. Alva later admitted openly that she had coerced her daughter into the marriage, even testifying to that effect during the Vatican annulment proceedings in 1926. Alva insisted she had “absolute control” over her daughter, words that revealed the extent to which Consuelo’s early life had been directed by her mother’s ambitions. In 1921 Consuelo divorced the Duke of Marlborough, and only months later, on July 4, she married Jacques Balsan, a French aviation pioneer and industrialist. Jacques Balsan This second marriage was a source of genuine happiness and companionship. With Jacques, she lived between their residences in France and in the United States, finding the personal freedom and affection that had eluded her in her youth. Their homes included estates in the French countryside and in Paris, where she cultivated a circle of friends in intellectual and artistic society. Consuelo remained active throughout her life in charitable causes, particularly in women’s welfare and later in war relief. She published her memoir, The Glitter and the Gold , in 1953, a work that offered both a portrait of Gilded Age society and a candid account of her own life, from a gilded childhood through her years as a duchess, to her eventual independence. Widowed in 1956, she spent her last years quietly, dividing her time between Europe and Southampton, Long Island. When she died in Southampton on December 6, 1964, at the age of eighty-seven, she chose to be buried not in the Vanderbilt mausoleum in New York, nor in France where she had made her second home, but at St. Martin’s Churchyard in Bladon, Oxfordshire, near Blenheim Palace. There, she was laid to rest beside her younger son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, who had died prematurely in 1956.

(January 17, 1853 - January 26, 1933) Alva Erskine Smith was born on January 17, 1853, in Mobile, Alabama, to Murray Forbes Smith, a wealthy cotton merchant, and Phoebe Ann Desha, daughter of Congressman Robert Desha. She spent her early years in the South until the Civil War disrupted her father’s business. The family relocated north and eventually abroad, where Alva received her schooling in France before returning to New York as a young woman. William Kissam Vanderbilt She married William Kissam Vanderbilt, grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, on April 20, 1875. Determined to gain her new family acceptance in New York’s rigid society, she commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design the château-inspired townhouse at 660 Fifth Avenue. On March 26, 1883, she hosted the legendary Vanderbilt Ball, which forced Caroline Astor, the reigning social leader, to formally acknowledge the Vanderbilts. Alva thus secured her place as one of the era’s dominant hostesses. She also played a decisive role in establishing the Metropolitan Opera, helping shift social and cultural influence from old New York families to the new industrial elite. She and William K. Vanderbilt had three children: Consuelo (1877–1964), William K. Vanderbilt II (1878–1944), and Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (1884–1970). Consuelo, famously coerced by her mother into marriage with Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, wed him in 1895. The union produced two sons but ended in a 1921 divorce and a 1926 annulment granted by the Catholic Church, in which Alva herself testified to the coercion. Consuelo later married Jacques Balsan, a French aviation pioneer. Petit Château Alva’s building projects were extensive. Her residences included the Petit Château on Fifth Avenue, Marble House in Newport (completed 1892), Belcourt in Newport (remodeled after her second marriage), Brookholt on Long Island (1897), and later Beacon Towers at Sands Point (1917). She also purchased and restored the Château d’Augerville in France in 1926. Marble House became especially significant; after her husband gave it to her as a birthday present, she later built a Chinese Tea House on its grounds in 1913, a pavilion that served as a stage for suffrage rallies. Marble House In 1895 Alva shocked society by divorcing William K. Vanderbilt, citing adultery. She retained Marble House and custody of the children along with a generous settlement. Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont On January 11, 1896, she married Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont. They lived at Belcourt and Brookholt until his sudden death in 1908. After his passing, she commissioned Hunt & Hunt to design a mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, a limestone Gothic chapel modeled on the Chapel of St. Hubert at Amboise, completed in 1913. Beacon Towers Widowed and wealthy, Alva turned her formidable energy to women’s suffrage. In 1909 she founded the Political Equality Association, and by 1913 she was closely allied with Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party. She funded parades, demonstrations, and the defense of pickets arrested at the White House, and eventually served as president of the NWP. In 1929 she financed the organization’s purchase of the historic Sewall House in Washington, D.C., dedicated as the Alva Belmont House, now preserved as the Belmont–Paul Women’s Equality National Monument. Château d’Augerville Her later years were spent largely in France, dividing time between Paris, the Riviera, and Augerville. Alva Belmont died in Paris on January 26, 1933. Her funeral was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York, where, in recognition of her suffrage work, women served as pallbearers. After the service her coffin was taken to Woodlawn Cemetery, where she was placed beside Oliver in the Gothic mausoleum she had built. Alva's Funeral Belmont Mausoleum, The Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx Ny. Courtesy of Neil Funkhouser Alva's Crypt Courtesy of Neil Funkhouser Alva Belmont’s life spanned the transformation of the Gilded Age into the modern era. She rose from Southern merchant’s daughter to the highest echelons of New York society, reshaped the architectural landscape with her palatial homes, broke convention with a socially scandalous divorce, and finally devoted her fortune and willpower to securing the vote for women. Her legacy endures in the houses she built, the mausoleum she designed, and the suffrage movement she helped to victory.

(May 7, 1838 - February 23, 1915) Theodore Montgomery Davis was born in Springfield, Otsego County, New York, on May 7, 1838. He trained as a lawyer in Iowa City and later practiced in Washington and New York, where he prospered in both law and business. The Reef, Newport, Rhode Island With the wealth he acquired, Davis settled in Newport, Rhode Island, and commissioned one of the city’s notable Gilded Age estates. Known as The Reef, the shingle and stone villa was built in 1885 by the Boston firm Sturgis and Brigham. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who created an extensive coastal landscape at Brenton Point, maintained for many years under the care of head gardener Angus Macmillan. The house stood as a Newport landmark until its demolition in 1963, while its carriage house and stables, later called “The Bells,” remained a familiar sight for decades. The Reef, Newport Rhode Island In 1860 Davis married Annie Buttles, a union that endured throughout his life. During the late 1880s his household also included Annie’s cousin, Emma Buttles Andrews, who became his close companion and hostess. Andrews moved into The Reef in 1887 and thereafter accompanied Davis on his long winter seasons in Egypt. Her detailed diaries of these journeys remain a vivid record of the social world of American travelers along the Nile. Davis’s interest in Egypt grew after an 1890 voyage, when fellow Rhode Islander Charles Wilbour introduced him in Luxor to the dealer Muhammad Mohassib. Mohassib supplied many Western collectors, and Davis, like others, began to acquire antiquities. Before long, however, he turned his attention to sponsoring excavations. In 1902 he agreed to fund the Egyptian Antiquities Service in the Valley of the Kings. That first season brought notable results, including the clearing of KV45, the tomb of Userhet, and objects from above KV36, the tomb of Maiherpri. Encouraged by these discoveries, Davis renewed his sponsorship annually, with the work in his name directed first by Howard Carter and then by James E. Quibell, each serving as inspector general of antiquities for Upper Egypt. In 1905 Davis secured a formal concession to excavate and began employing his own teams. Over the next decade his field directors included Edward R. Ayrton, E. Harold Jones, and Harry Burton, all of whom later held distinguished positions in Egyptology. The results of these campaigns were extraordinary. Between 1902 and 1913, excavations under his sponsorship uncovered or cleared about thirty tombs, among them KV46, the tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu, KV55, often called the Amarna cache, KV57, the tomb of Horemheb, and KV54, a cache associated with the embalming of Tutankhamun. Finds were presented primarily to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which established the Salle Theodore Davis in recognition of his contributions, while other objects entered the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other American institutions. Davis published seven volumes describing his discoveries, among them The Tomb of Thoutmosis IV, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou, and The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou, works that disseminated detailed records of his expeditions to scholars and the public alike. Despite these achievements, Davis grew convinced by 1912 that the Valley of the Kings had yielded all it had to offer. In his final report he declared that the site was exhausted. After 1913 his concession passed to Lord Carnarvon, and in November 1922 Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, only a short distance from where Davis had ended his own excavations. Later accounts emphasized how close Davis’s last trenches had come to the sealed entrance, and his pessimistic conclusion became one of the most famous misjudgments in the history of archaeology. Yet his record remains remarkable, for his teams carried out some of the most productive campaigns ever conducted in the Valley, discoveries that continue to shape the study of ancient Egypt. Davis was also an important art collector. At his death he bequeathed significant works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including paintings by Italian masters such as Gentile da Fabriano and Giovanni Bellini, together with a large group of antiquities now catalogued as the Theodore M. Davis Collection. These gifts reflected his wide-ranging cultural interests and secured his reputation in the art world as well as in Egyptology. In his later years Davis wintered abroad or in warmer climates. In 1915 he rented Villa Serena in Miami, the home of Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan. He died there on February 23 of that year at the age of seventy-six. His body was cremated, and his ashes were returned to Rhode Island for burial in Section E, Lot 24, 25, Grave 1 of Island Cemetery in Newport.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II was born on November 27, 1843, in New York City, the eldest son of William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam. He was the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of the family fortune built on shipping and railroads. As heir to this vast empire, Cornelius was groomed from a young age to manage the family business. He entered the offices of the New York Central Railroad as a boy and advanced steadily, eventually becoming chairman. Under his leadership, the railroad remained one of the most powerful corporations in America, linking New York to the Midwest and ensuring the continued dominance of the Vanderbilt name in finance and transportation. In 1867 he married Alice Claypoole Gwynne, daughter of a prominent Cincinnati lawyer. Alice brought her own strong character and sense of duty to the marriage. Over time she became known as one of the most admired hostesses in New York society and, later in life, as a respected philanthropist. Together Cornelius and Alice raised seven children, though the family knew both triumph and tragedy. Their eldest daughter, Alice, died in early childhood. William Henry Vanderbilt II succumbed to typhoid fever in 1892 at only twenty one. Cornelius Vanderbilt III pursued a military career and achieved distinction as an inventor and officer, though he was disinherited after marrying against his father’s wishes. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney became an accomplished sculptor and the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt established himself as a businessman but perished in 1915 when the Lusitania was torpedoed, remembered for giving his lifejacket to a fellow passenger. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt led a shorter life but carried on the family line as father of Gloria Vanderbilt and grandfather of Anderson Cooper. The youngest, Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, married into the Hungarian aristocracy, becoming Countess Széchenyi and linking the family to European nobility. Cornelius Vanderbilt II Mansion Cornelius Vanderbilt II was equally renowned for the grandeur of his residences, which epitomized the opulence of the Gilded Age. His New York City mansion, begun in 1882 and completed two years later, was located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty Seventh Street. Designed by George B. Post with interiors by John LaFarge and Augustus Saint Gaudens, it was the largest private home ever constructed in Manhattan. The mansion occupied an entire city block and boasted ballrooms, art filled drawing rooms, and a level of ornament intended to rival the palaces of Europe. It became a center of social life in New York, where Alice Vanderbilt presided over glittering gatherings. The house stood until 1926, when it was demolished and replaced by Bergdorf Goodman. Original Breakers Mansion For summer seasons the family turned to Newport, Rhode Island, where Cornelius built The Breakers after his earlier wooden home burned down. Completed in 1895, The Breakers was designed by the celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt. The seventy room residence, modeled after the Renaissance palaces of Italy, incorporated marble, rare woods, gilding, and craftsmanship imported from Europe. The interiors were filled with frescoes, mosaics, and elaborate carvings, while the landscaped grounds by Ernest Bowditch extended to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The Breakers soon became the most magnificent of Newport’s summer “cottages” and symbolized the scale of Vanderbilt ambition. Unlike the New York mansion, it survives today and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, serving as the enduring architectural legacy of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The Breakers By the mid 1890s his health began to fail. A stroke in 1896 left him partly paralyzed and forced him into retirement. He never fully recovered. On September 12, 1899, Cornelius Vanderbilt II died at his Fifth Avenue mansion at the age of fifty five. He was laid to rest in the private Vanderbilt family mausoleum on Staten Island, which stands on land immediately adjacent to Moravian Cemetery. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the mausoleum is one of the most imposing family tombs in America and serves as the final resting place for many members of the Vanderbilt dynasty. The Vanderbilt Mausoleum Interior View of the back half of the Vanderbilt Mausoleum

(March 17, 1862-February 17, 1944) S. Z. Mitchell was born on March 17, 1862, in Dadeville, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, the youngest of three sons of Dr. William Alexander Mitchell and Elmira Sophia Jordan Mitchell. His early childhood was shaped by the hardships of the Civil War and Reconstruction. After his mother’s death in 1865, Sidney and his brothers were raised by their widowed grandmother, Ann Spivey Jordan, on her Coosa County plantation. There, he learned discipline, self-reliance, and two guiding principles that shaped his life: to always put himself in another’s place when in doubt, and to complete his work before starting anything new. Mitchell attended local schools and received additional lessons from his grandmother, while also helping on the farm. He developed a lifelong love of horseback riding and hunting, pursuits he would enjoy well into adulthood. A pivotal moment in his youth came when a family friend nominated him for a competitive appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. After six months of intense study, he won the appointment and graduated from Annapolis with the Class of 1883. Serving aboard the U.S.S. Trenton  and later the U.S.S. Quinnebaugh , Mitchell earned his commission during two years of naval service, during which he helped install and operate the world’s first incandescent lighting system on a battleship. Although he valued his naval career, he sought greater opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, resigning his commission in 1885. That year, Mitchell traveled to New York, where he was introduced to Thomas Edison. Impressed by his enthusiasm, Edison hired him to work at his Goerck Street factory, where Mitchell learned the intricacies of electrical engineering and power distribution while attending Edison’s night school. Later that year, Mitchell secured the exclusive rights to represent the Edison Electric Light Company and the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting in the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and British Columbia. With his former Naval Academy classmate Frederick H. Sparling, Mitchell established the first central electric light station west of the Rocky Mountains in Seattle, helping the city promote itself in its rivalry with Tacoma. He soon expanded operations, forming the Northwest Supply & Construction Company, which organized electric light plants in more than a dozen cities. By 1890, Edison General Electric acquired his company and appointed him to lead its Northwestern District office in Portland. As the demand for electricity grew in the 1890s—for lighting, transportation, and industry—Mitchell’s expertise as a power developer and financier made him an influential figure in the emerging electric utility sector. In 1892, Edison’s companies merged with Thomson-Houston to form the General Electric Company, giving Mitchell resources to expand utilities throughout the region. In 1893, he married Alice P. Bell of Portland, and the couple had one son, Sidney A. Mitchell. Mitchell’s reputation as a visionary in hydroelectric development eventually brought him to New York, where he was invited to help organize the Electric Bond and Share Company, a subsidiary of General Electric. As president and later chairman, he oversaw financing and development for a vast network of utility companies, earning recognition as one of the most influential leaders in the global power industry. in 1924 Sidney built an estate designed by James O'Connor in Matinecock with landscaping by the Olmsted Brothers and O'Connor. The House was demolished in 1950. A 1925 Forbes  profile hailed him as “a torchbearer for advancing civilization,” noting he had guided more utility plants and raised more capital for electrical infrastructure than any other individual of his time. In 1927, Mitchell was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Alabama during the dedication of the Jordan Dam, named for his mother and honoring both Sidney and his brother Reuben for their contributions to electrification. Inspired by a visit to his boyhood home, Mitchell purchased 5,000 acres in Coosa County and established Ann Jordan Farm, a hunting lodge and retreat named for his beloved grandmother. It became a gathering place where he entertained colleagues and friends with Southern hospitality and field sports. After Alice’s death in 1941, Mitchell married a widow, Mrs. Palmer. He continued to work and travel until his death from a heart attack on February 17, 1944. Sidney was laid to rest in Addition 2, Lot 151 of Locust Valley Cemetery. Sidney Zollicoffer Mitchell’s life traced the arc of America’s electrification. A pioneering engineer, entrepreneur, and financier, he transformed the Pacific Northwest’s cities with power infrastructure, helped shape General Electric’s national reach, and built Electric Bond and Share into one of the largest holding companies in the world. Remembered as a trailblazer and a builder, he embodied the innovative spirit of his generation.

(February 26, 1849 - May 16, 1938 Edward Townsend Stotesbury was an American financier, industrialist, and society figure whose immense wealth and legendary estates epitomized the extravagance of the Gilded Age. He was born in Philadelphia on February 26, 1849, into a middle-class Quaker family and was educated at Friends' Central School. At seventeen he entered Drexel & Company as a clerk and quickly distinguished himself in the banking world. Rising through the ranks, he became a partner of the firm and later a senior partner of Drexel, Morgan & Company, working in close collaboration with J. P. Morgan. Morgan himself declared that Stotesbury "knew more about the banking business than any man in America." For decades he was one of the most powerful figures in finance, guiding the firm through vast mergers, industrial investments, and the consolidation of American railroads and corporations. Stotesbury married Frances Berman Butcher in the 1870s. Their first daughter, Helen Lewis Stotesbury, died in infancy in 1874. Frances died in childbirth on November 7, 1881, leaving him a widower with two young daughters. He did not remarry until more than thirty years later. Eva Roberts Cromwell Stotesbury On January 18, 1912, he wed Eva Roberts Cromwell, the widowed mother of Oliver Eaton Cromwell Jr., diplomat James H. R. Cromwell, and Louise Cromwell Brooks. Through this marriage he became stepfather to one of the most prominent families in American society. With Eva, he began a period of extraordinary building and display. Together they redecorated his Philadelphia townhouses and then commissioned three palatial estates that became symbols of their wealth and taste. Whitemarsh hall The most celebrated was  Whitemarsh Hall , outside Philadelphia, designed by Horace Trumbauer and completed between 1916 and 1921. Often called the "Versailles of America," the Georgian Revival mansion contained 147 rooms, 45 bathrooms, a theater, a barber shop, billiards room, nine elevators, and some of the finest collections of tapestries, porcelains, rugs, and paintings in the country. It cost over $8 million to build and furnish and required a staff of seventy, though it was only used for half the year. Architect Addison Mizner’s El Mirasol was built in 1919 and destroyed in 1959 In Palm Beach, they built  El Mirasol , a villa of vast scale, where they entertained hundreds of guests at a time. The 42-acre estate was entered off North County Road, which ran through the entire property. The eastern part was for the residence on the ocean and across the road to the west for gardens and pavilions. Another sprawling fantasy villa, it was always being expanded according to the Stotesburys’ whims. It also was the scene of magical parties and galas. The Stotesburys had El Mirasol as their winter residence Wingwood House In Bar Harbor they commissioned  Wingwood House , completed in 1927, another monumental summer residence. By 1927 Stotesbury's fortune was estimated at $100,000,000, making him one of the wealthiest men in America. But the Depression and his own prodigious spending drained his resources. Between 1933 and his death he withdrew over $55,000,000 from his Morgan accounts. At the time of his death in 1938, his estate was valued at only $4,000,000. Much of his fortune had been consumed by the enormous expense of maintaining his three palaces. Edward T. Stotesbury died at his home, Whitemarsh Hall, in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1938, at the age of eighty-nine. He was buried in The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia. His name remains associated with the grandeur and decline of the Gilded Age, a symbol of both the power of American finance and the transience of its fortunes. Whitemarsh hall was demolished in 1980. Below you will find a gallery on Whitemarsh Hall