Georgiana Wilmerding Phelps

Georgiana Wilmerding Phelps (January 4, 1873 – December 31, 1960) was an American socialite who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age.

Georgiana Wilmerding Phelps
Born
Georgiana Wilmerding

(1873-02-04)February 4, 1873
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 1960(1960-12-31) (aged 87)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Ansel Phelps
​
​
(m. 1905; died 1950)​
Parent(s)John Christoper Wilmerding
Georgiana L. Heckscher

Early life

Georgiana, who was known as "Miss Georgie",[1] was born in New York City on January 4, 1873. She was the daughter of John Christoper Wilmerding (1829–1903)[2] and Georgiana L. (née Heckscher) Wilmerding (1845–1926).[3] Her siblings included Edward Coster Wilmerding[4] and John C. Wilmerding, who married Mary Fatimeh de Lex Allen, a great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt.[5][6] Her father John, a merchant, was a member of the dry goods auution firm of Wilmerding, Morris & Mitchell.[5]

She was descended from many of New York's oldest families.[3] Her paternal grandparents were William Edward Wilmerding and Joanna Mary (née Gosman) Wilmerding.[7] Her maternal grandparents were Charles August Heckscher and Georgiana Louisa (née Coster) Heckscher.[8] Her maternal aunt, Matilda Coster Heckscher was married to Stephen Van Rensselaer (son of Brig. Gen. Henry Bell Van Rensselaer and Elizabeth Ray King),[9] her uncle John Gerard Heckscher, was married to Cornelia Lawrence Whitney of the Whitney family and Mary Travers (daughter of William R. Travers).[10] Among her many first cousins was Philip Meiser Lydig, who married Rita de Alba de Acosta;[11] Georgiana Louisa Heckscher, who married New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. (son of Gen. George B. McClellan);[12] Emeline Dora Heckscher, who married Egerton Leigh Winthrop Jr. (son of Egerton Leigh Winthrop);[10] Charles Augustus Van Rensselaer, who married Caroline FitzGerald;[13] Elizabeth Ray Van Rensselaer, who married John Magee Ellsworth; Stephen Van Rensselaer, who married Marian Watson Farlin; and Mathilde Van Rensselaer, who married George Curtis White Jr.[14][15]

Society life

Georgiana made her debut in 1888 alongside her cousin Elizabeth Ray Van Rensselaer, Elizabeth Marshall Morris (daughter of Dr. Stuyvesant Fish Morris), and Amy Bend (daughter of George H. Bend), among other prominent ladies.[16] She lived at "Beau Sejour" in Orange, New Jersey.[17]

In 1892, the then unmarried Georgiana was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[18] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[19][17]

Georgiana was a director of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association and a member of the Hudson Guild.[20]

Personal life

On June 1, 1905, Georgiana was married to Ansel Stowe Phelps (1872–1950).[21] There was no reception following the wedding as the bride's family was in mourning.[21] The guests at the wedding included New York City Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., and members of the Van Rensselaer, Hecksher, Wilmerding, Coster, Winthrop, Berriman, Morris, Cadwalader families, all relatives of the bride and groom.[21] Phelps was the son of Charles Phelps, also a dry goods merchant, and Helen Minerva (née Stowe) Phelps and the brother of architect Stowe Phelps.[22] Ansel, an 1894 graduate of Yale University, served during the Spanish–American War and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange with the firm of Phelps & McKee.[23] They lived in New York City at 37 East 64th Street[24] and had a home in Oyster Bay, New York near Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club.[25] The Phelps did not have any children.[22]

She died on December 31, 1960 in New York City.[26] Following a service at St. James Episcopal Church on Madison Avenue, she was buried alongside her husband at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

References
  1. The Club-fellow: The Society Journal of New York and Chicago. Club-Fellow Publishing Company. 1905. p. 139. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  2. "DEATH LIST OF A DAY. John C. Wilmerding" (PDF). The New York Times. December 12, 1903. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. "MRS. WILMERDING BURIED; Members of Many Old Nev York Families at the Funeral" (PDF). The New York Times. October 8, 1926. p. 23. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  4. "E.C. WILMERDING, A STOCKBROKER, 72; New Yorker Who Was Well Known in Society Dies-- Was Philanthropist" (PDF). The New York Times. July 26, 1950. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  5. "DEATH RECALLS DIVORCE. John C. Wilmerding, ex-Husband of Mary Fatimeh Allen, Is Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. September 11, 1911. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. MacDowell, Dorothy Kelly (1989). Commodore Vanderbilt and his family: a biographical account of the Descendants of Cornelius and Sophia Johnson Vanderbilt. D.K. MacDowell. p. 31. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  7. The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1905. p. 189. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  8. Coster, Morris (1886). New Amsterdam Gazette. Morris Coster. p. 9. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  9. Sullivan, Robert G. (1911). "Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Van Rensselaer Vol. IV". www.schenectadyhistory.org. Schenectady County Public Library. pp. 1814–1821. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  10. Hamersly, Lewis Randolph (1906). First Citizens of the Republic: An Historical Work Giving Portraits and Sketches of the Most Eminent Citizens of the United States. L. R. Hamersly & Company. p. 200. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  11. Evans, Colin (2014). Valentino Affair: The Jazz Age Murder Scandal That Shocked New York Society and Gripped the World. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 7. ISBN 9781493011681. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  12. Sears, Stephen W. (2014). George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. HMH. p. 435. ISBN 9780544391222. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  13. Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1169. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  14. "Van Rensselaer Family Papers: Manuscripts and Special Collections". www.nysl.nysed.gov. New York State Library. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  15. Americana: (American Historical Magazine). American Historical Company, Incorporated. 1907. p. 135. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  16. New York Amusement Gazette. F. T. Low. 1888. p. 92. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  17. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 233. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  18. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  19. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  20. "Mrs. Ansel Phelps (1870-1960)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  21. "PHELPS--WILMERDING" (PDF). The New York Times. June 2, 1905. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  22. "OBITUARY RECORD OF GRADUATES OF THE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS DECEASED DURING THE YEAR 1949-1950" (PDF). Bulletin of Yale University. Number 1: 25. January 1, 1951. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  23. "EXCHANGE SEAT TRANSFERS; Proposed Sale by D.Y. Hill to I.T. Bartlett Is Announced". The New York Times. August 8, 1930. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  24. Social Register: Summer. Social Register Association. 1905. p. 329. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  25. "OYSTER BAY ESTATE IN NEW OWNERSHIP; 17-Acre Place of Herbert L. Smith on Centre Island Is Sold to G.F. Baker DEALS IN FAR ROCKAWAY Two Apartment Houses and a Private Dwelling Traded -- Flushing Site Bought". The New York Times. July 10, 1941. p. 35. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  26. "Obituary 1 -- No Title" (PDF). The New York Times. January 1, 1961. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
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