Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks

Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks (1871 - February 5, 1951) was the daughter of Hetty Green and the sister of Edward Howland Robinson Green (1868-1936) and one of the wealthiest women in the United States.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Green Grist |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931609,00.html |quote=A surprise witness at the first session was tall, sharp-nosed, bespectacled Mrs. Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks, 66, whose right to her brother's fortune by terms of a will drawn nine years before his marriage has been challenged by Colonel Green's widow, redheaded Mabel E. Harlow Green, 66. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=Monday, May 3, 1937 |accessdate=2008-06-08 ]

Biography

She was born in 1871 to Henrietta Howland Robinson and Edward Henry Green. She married Matthew Astor Wilks (1844-1926), great grandson of America's first millionaire John Jacob Astor, in Morristown, New Jersey in 1909; she was 39 and he was 63. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Matthew A. Wilks Dies. J.J. Astor Descendant. Son-in-Law of the Late Hetty Green Was a Member of Many Clubs. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70B13F634591B7A93C6A91783D85F428285F9 |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=August 4, 1926, Wednesday |accessdate=2008-06-09 ] When her brother died in 1935, she inherited his estate, rather than the estate going to his widow.

Harriet Green Wilks died on February 5, 1951 leaving an estate of $94,965,229. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mrs. Hetty Wilks Dead At Age Of 80. Daughter Of Hetty Green, Noted For Financial Manipulations, Wed Descendant Of Astor "Accustomed To Economy" Active Until Last Year. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50E10F73B54157B93C4A91789D85F458585F9&scp=1&sq=Wilks+Green+died&st=p |quote=Mrs. H. Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks of 988 Fifth Avenue, widow of Matthew Astor Wilks, and daughter of Hetty Green, the famous woman financier, died yesterday in the New York Hospital at the age of 80. |publisher=New York Times |date=February 6, 1951, Tuesday |accessdate=2008-06-09 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Hetty Green's Daughter Leaves $94,965,229 |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/424588961.html?dids=424588961:424588961&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+27%2C+1952&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Hetty+Green's+Daughter+Leaves+%2494%2C965%2C229&pqatl=google |quote=The estate of Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Howland Green Wilks, who died Feb. 5, 1951, totaled $94,965,229 gross and $90,845,301 net, according to an estate tax appraisal filed yesterday. |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=September 27, 1952 |accessdate=2008-06-08 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Hetty Green's Only Daughter, 80, Dies |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/447446752.html?dids=447446752:447446752&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Feb+07%2C+1951&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=HETTY+GREEN'S+ONLY+DAUGHTER%2C+80%2C+DIES&pqatl=google |quote=Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilks, 80, only daughter of the wealthy Hetty Green and, in her own right, one of the world's richest women, died last night in New York Hospital.|publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=February 7, 1951 |accessdate=2008-06-08 ] The list of assets included 36 pages of bonds, eight pages of blue-chip stocks, and $31 million in a non interest bearing checking account. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Wilks Estate Is Put At 95 Millions, Third Of It In One Checking Account; Mrs. Wilks' Assets Put At 95 Millions |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A11FB395F177B93C2AB1788D85F468585F9 |quote=Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Howland Green Wilks, daughter of the late Hetty Green, noted woman financier at the turn of the century, left an estate of approximately $95,000,000 according to an accounting filed in Surrogate's Court yesterday. She died Feb. 5, 1951. |publisher=New York Times |date=March 20, 1952, Thursday |accessdate=2008-06-09 ]

Her will was found stuffed in a tin cabinet with four cakes of soap. She bestowed her closest genetic relative, a cousin, just $5,000, but the court awarded her $140,000 during probate. The remainder was divided between 63 charities and educational institutions.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mother Knew Better |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935563,00.html |quote= |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=Monday, March 31, 1952 |accessdate=2008-06-09 ]

ee also

*Howland will forgery trial

References