Elizabeth Wharton Drexel

Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (April 22, 1868 – June 13, 1944) was an author and Manhattan socialite.

Birth

She was the daughter of Lucy Wharton (1841-1912) and Joseph William Drexel. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mrs. J.W. Drexel Dead. Former Social Leader of Philadelphia and Mother of Mrs. Harry Lehr. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=January 26, 1912, Friday |accessdate=2007-07-21 ] Joseph was the son of Francis Martin Drexel, the immigrant ancestor of the Drexel banking family in the United States.

First marriage

Elizabeth married John Vinton Dahlgren I (?-1898) on June 29, 1889. They had a son, John Vinton Dahlgren II (1892-?). Elizabeth was widowed in 1898. John was the son of John Adolph Dahlgren (1809-1870), the Admiral.

econd marriage

Elizabeth married Henry Symes Lehr (1869-1929), aka Harry Lehr in June 1901. cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Record of the Rich |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,711722,00.html?iid=chix-sphere |quote=In Paris in 1929 Mrs. Elizabeth Drexel Lehr heard that her husband was dead. To the daughter of Philadelphia Banker Joseph William Drexel, that event meant that the "tragic farce" of a 28-year marriage had ended, that she was now free to tell her story. A bitter, disillusioned book, "King Lehr" is memorable for the lurid light it throws on U. S. Society of the Gilded Age, may confidently be opened as one of the most startling and scandalously intimate records of life among the wealthy yet written by one of them. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date= |accessdate=2007-07-21 ]

World War I

In 1915 the Lehrs were in Paris, and Elizabeth worked for the Red Cross. They remained in Paris after World War I, where they bought in 1923 the "Hôtel de Canvoie" at 52, rue des Saintes Pères in the VIIe arrondissement. Harry Lehr died on January 3, 1929 of a brain malady in Baltimore. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Harry S. Lehr Dies. Once Social Leader. Succumbs To A Brain Malady In Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. Late Mrs. Astor's Adviser Noted For Daring And Originality Of His Parties. Married Mrs. J. V. Dahlgren, Heiress. Quickly Got Into Limelight. Furor Over "Monkey Dinner" Story. An Excellent Musician. |url= |quote=Baltimore, January 3, 1929. Harry Symes Lehr, for many years prominent in society of New York, Newport, Baltimore and Paris, died today of a brain disorder at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he had been a patient for several weeks. |publisher=New York Times |date=January 4, 1929 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ]

Third marriage

In 1931 Elizabeth was presented at Court to King George V and Queen Mary in London. On May 25, 1936 she married John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies. His first wife had been Helen Vivien Gould. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=People |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802366,00.html |quote=Heavily engraved invitations sent out by Lady Decies (formerly Elizabeth Drexel of Philadelphia) sent the British Library of Information bustling about over a point of etiquette. Said the invitation: "Lady Elizabeth Decies (the Right Honorable Elizabeth Beresford, Baroness Decies) requests the pleasure of your company," etc. But Lady Decies, pointed out the B.L.I., is merely wife of a privy councillor of the lowest rank of the peerage (John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, Baron Decies). is therefore a "Lady," but not a "Right Honorable." Nor can she call herself "Lady Elizabeth," nor "Elizabeth, Lady," titles proper only to the daughter of an earl or better or the widowed mother of a baron or married baronet, or the widow of a knight. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=July 27, 1942 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Decies to Marry Mrs. Harry Lehr; Widow of New York Leader of Society to Become Bride of Irish Peer on May 23. Announcement in Paris. Bride-Elect Member of Drexel Family. Wrote Book, 'King Lehr and Gilded Age.' |url= |quote=Mrs. Henry Symes Lehr, widow of Harry Lehr, society leader in New York early in the century, will be married here on May 23 to John Graham Beresford, Lord Decies, Irish peer, according to an announcement made today. |publisher=New York Times |date= May 12, 1936, Tuesday|accessdate=2007-07-21 ] He died on January 31, 1944. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Lord Decies dies in England at 77. Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=February 2, 1944 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ]

Death

She died in 1944 at the Hotel Shelton. She was buried in the Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University, which she had built as a memorial to her first husband. cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Lady Decies, Widow of Irish Peer, Dies; Former Elizabeth Drexel of Philadelphia Was Once the Wife of Harry Lehr. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=June 14, 1944 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ]

Timeline

*1889 Marriage to John Vinton Dahlgren on June 29
*1892 Birth of John Vinton Dahlgren II on June 21
*1898 Death of John Vinton Dahlgren I
*1901 Marriage to Henry Symes Lehr
*1915 Red Cross in Paris
*1929 Death of Henry Symes Lehr, aka Harry Lehr, on January 3
*1936 Marriage to John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies, on May 25
*1944 Death of John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies, on January 31
*1944 Death of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel in June

Publications

*"King Lehr" and the Gilded Age" (1935) ISBN 1404782427
*"Turn of the World" (1937)

ee also

* [http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/theater/fnap/babe.html "Great Day in the Morning"] is a play by Thomas Babe, based on Elizabeth Wharton Drexel's life.

References

Further reading

*Time; August 5, 1935; Review of "King Lehr" and the Gilded Age"
* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,848585,00.html Time; May 18, 1936] announcing the engagement of "Mrs. Henry Symes Lehr" with Lord Decies.
* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,756176,00.html Time; June 1, 1936] announcing the marriage of "Mrs. Henry Symes Lehr" and Lord Decies.
* [http://www.cegesoma.be/pls/opac/opac.search?lan=N&seop=2&sele=51&sepa=12&doty=&sest=&chna=&senu=45033&rqdb=1&dbnu=1 Photo of Lord Decies and his wife] after the civil wedding on the steps of the Mairie of the 7^ième arrondissement of Paris.

Persondata
NAME = Drexel, Elizabeth Wharton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American author
DATE OF BIRTH = April 22, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH = June 13, 1944
PLACE OF DEATH =