Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was a sportsman and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family.

Life

Born in New York City, the third son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843 – 1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1845 – 1934), Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt was educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and at Yale University, where he was a member of Skull & Bones.

His siblings include: William Henry Vanderbilt II (1870 – 1892), Cornelius Vanderbilt III (1873 – 1942), Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875 – 1942), Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880 – 1925) and Gladys Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi (1886 – 1965). As his eldest brother, William, had died in 1892 at the age of 22 and their father had disinherited Cornelius III, Alfred received the largest share of his father's estate when he died in 1899, though it was also divided among their sisters and youngest son. Among Alfred Vanderbilt's many holdings, were positions in the New York Central Railroad, Beech Creek Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, Michigan Central Railroad and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad as well as the Pullman Company.

Married life and children

Elsie French

On January 11, 1901 Alfred Vanderbilt married Ellen French, known as "Elsie", in Newport, Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Francis Ormond French (1839 – 1893), president of the Manhattan Trust Company, and his wife Ellen Tuck. Elsie was niece to famous banker Edward Tuck and a sister of Amos Tuck French. Later that same year, on November 24, Elsie gave birth to their only child, William Henry Vanderbilt III (1901 – 1981), later governor of Rhode Island.

A scandal erupted in April of 1908 after Elsie filed for divorce, alleging adultery with Agnes O'Brien Ruíz, the wife of the Cuban attaché in Washington, D. C.. The publicity ultimately led Agnes Ruíz to commit suicide in 1909.

Elsie French Vanderbilt remarried to Lieutenant Paul Fitzsimons, U. S. N., on April 3, 1919 in Newport, Rhode Island. He was a marine officer ten years her junior and he served on the same destroyer as Elsie's son William H. Vanderbilt. She died in Newport on February 27, 1948.

Margaret Emerson

Vanderbilt spent considerable time in London after the divorce and remarried there on December 17, 1911 to the wealthy American divorcée Margaret Emerson (1884 – 1960). She was the daughter of wealthy instructor in chemistry and drug manufacturer Captain Isaac Edward Emerson (1859 – 1937) and his first wife Emily Askew. She was heiress to the Bromo-Seltzer fortune. Margaret had been married from 1902 to 1910 to Dr. Smith Hollins McKim, a wealthy physician of Baltimore, Maryland.

Alfred and Margaret had two children: Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II (1912 – 1999), businessman and racehorse breeder, and George Washington Vanderbilt III (1914 – 1961), yachtsman and a scientific explorer.

After Alfred's death, Margaret remarried twice: On June 12, 1918 in Lenox, Massachusetts to politician Raymond T. Baker (1875 – 1935), with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Baker (1920 – 1975) (Mrs. Henry J. Topping, Jr.). Emerson and Baker were divorced in October, 1928. On November 5, 1928 Margaret was wed in Manhattan to Charles Minot Amory of Boston, Massachusetts. He had been formerly married to Gladys Munn. There were no further children from this marriage. In newspaper articles and reports concerning America's "Old Money" Margaret was considered to have been "the most married woman of her time". Margaret died on January 2, 1960 at the age of 75.

Death

On May 1, 1915 Alfred Vanderbilt boarded the RMS "Lusitania" bound for Liverpool as a first class passenger. It was a business trip, and he traveled with only his valet, leaving his family at home in New York. On May 7 off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, the German submarine, Unterseeboot 20 torpedoed the ship, triggering a secondary explosion that sank the giant ocean liner within eighteen minutes. Vanderbilt and his valet, Ronald Denyer, helped others into lifeboats, and then Vanderbilt gave his lifejacket to save a female passenger. According to the 2002 book "TORPEDOED: The Sinking of the Lusitania," author Diana Preston writes that Vanderbilt had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra lifevest for her. Failing to do so, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to even tie on to her himself since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many consider his actions to be very brave and gallant since he could not swim, he knew that there were no other lifevests or lifeboats available, and yet he still gave away his only chance to survive to the young mother and child.

Because of his fame, several people on the "Lusitania" who survived the tragedy were observing him while events unfolded at the time and so they took note of his brave actions. He and Denyer were among the 1198 passengers who did not survive the incident. His body was never recovered."Torpedoed!" by Diana Preston, Smithsonian,May 2002, pp. 64-65.