Edith Van Buren

Edith Marie Van Buren (1858-1914), also known later in life as the Countess de Castelmenardo, was an American socialite and world traveler. She is remembered for her tourism in the Yukon, her contentious divorce from a man styling himself as the Count di Castelmenardo, and her family connection to Teaneck, New Jersey.

Van Buren in 1898

Family

Edith Van Buren's father was General Thomas Brodhead Van Buren, a Union officer and U.S. diplomat who later became the U.S. Consul-General in Yokohama. Through her father, Edith Van Buren was related to the U.S. president Martin Van Buren.[1] Her mother was Harriet Sheffield, daughter of the railroad magnate Joseph Earl Sheffield. Harriet Sheffield's brother-in-law, William Walter Phelps, encouraged the family to take up residence in Teaneck, New Jersey.[2]

Portrait Bust

A marble portrait bust of Edith Van Buren by the American sculptor Luella Varney was exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exhibition.[3] One list of Varney's work described Van Buren as "the beauty."[4] The bust is now on display at the Teaneck public library.[5]

Expedition to the Yukon

In 1898, Van Buren went to Klondike with her friend Mary Evelyn Hitchcock, embarking from San Francisco on a steamer.[6] Their luggage included multiple pets and an early motion picture device called an animatoscope.[7] Hitchcock later described their visit in a book, Two Women in the Klondike.

Countess di Castelmenardo

Van Buren met Gennaro Vesicchio, also known as Gennaro di Castelmenardo, in Nice, France, where her brother Harold Sheffield Van Buren was a U.S. consul. Vesicchio represented himself as the count of Castelmenardo. The couple married in London on July 7, 1900.[8] However, Vesicchio became indebted, losing money in Monte Carlo, and Van Buren learned that he was not actually a count. She paid for a title of nobility for him, then learned that he was committing adultery. She had him jailed for adultery, then sued for separation and later divorce. Van Buren retained the title of Countess de Castelmenardo.[9][10]

References
  1. "Phelps family of New Jersey". The Political Graveyard.
  2. Taylor, Mildred. "William Walter Phelps: A Lasting Imprint". Teaneck Public Library. Archived from the original on 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
  3. Nichols, K. L. "International Women Sculptors: 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Exposition".
  4. Rose, Mrs. William G. (1915). The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs, vol. 2. Press of Euclid Printing Company. p. 180.
  5. "Teaneck Library dedicates marble bust of Edith Van Buren". Northjersey.com.
  6. "Mary Hitchcock and Edith Van Buren - Klondike Tourists". National Postal Museum.
  7. Bottomore, Stephen. "Mary Ellen Hitchcock". Who's Who of Victorian Cinema.
  8. "Edith M. Van Buren becomes a baroness". San Francisco Call. July 14, 1900.
  9. "DELUDED HEIRESS., Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 1, 2 January 1908". Papers Past.
  10. Alexander, Phelps-Penry. "Joseph Earl Sheffield: A Profile". Shards: Fragments of a life.
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