Historical records matching Elizabeth Marbury
view all
Immediate Family
-
partner -
father -
mother
About Elizabeth Marbury
“ Elizabeth Marbury (1856–1833) grew up in the Gramercy Park neighborhood with the Hewitt sisters, where “everyone seemed to know everyone else.” In her autobiography, My Crystal Ball (1923), she wrote that “the Hewitt house at 9 Lexington Avenue was the center of all that was the best socially, intellectually, and artistically in New York.” Bessy, Sally, and Nelly (their nicknames) shared riotous childhood escapades together and were life-long friends.
A distinguished professional in her field, Elizabeth Marbury’s clients ranged from playwrights Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw to the dance team of Vernon and Irene Castle, and many more. In 1916, she produced Cole Porter’s first Broadway musical, See America First.
In 1886, the Hewitt sisters introduced Elizabeth Marbury to Elsie de Wolfe (1859–1950). The future interior decorator was then a was young amateur actress performing in a popular play called A Cup of Tea for the opening of the posh Tuxedo Club, near the Hewitt country home in Ringwood, New Jersey. Marbury recalled in My Crystal Ball:
“It was soon after my visit to Tuxedo, and through my interest in the amateur stage, that I met Elsie de Wolfe. My friends, the Hewitts, asked us to luncheon. Caroline Duer, who had written some quite lovely sonnets, had given me copies of them. . . . I took Miss de Wolfe aside, showed her these verses and asked her to read them aloud, which she did, with a very pleasurable appreciation of their quality.” This was a beginning of a partnership that lasted almost forty years. Elsie’s career as an actress ended as she became recognized for her good taste in advising her social friends to banish Victorian fussiness and decorate with stylish elegance. In 1905, she created interiors for the Colony Club, the first private social club for women, founded by Florence J. Harriman, Anne Tracy Morgan, Elizabeth Marbury, and Anne Vanderbilt. The Hewitt sisters were also founding members. The interior decoration of the club established Elsie de Wolfe’s immense reputation. Chic and energetic and with a great business sense, she grew an international client list. At age 61, she married Lord Mendl, a marriage in name only, giving her the title Lady Mendl. In 1905, Elsie de Wolfe, Elizabeth Marbury, and Anne Tracy Morgan (1873–1952) purchased, restored, and redecorated the Villa Trianon in Versailles, France. Morgan, youngest daughter of the financier J.P. Morgan, pursued a career as a philanthropist and advocate for women’s rights. These three women became known as the “Versailles Triumvirate,“ hosting fabulous parties. During World War I, they converted the long gallery of the Villa Trianon for use as a hospital ward and participated in relief work for French and, later, American soldiers.
From 1917 to 1921, Morgan took residence near the French front at Blèrancourt and largely financed a formidable help organization—The American Friends of France—which provided health services, housing, and food to soldiers and displaced refugees. The Hewitt sisters actively helped raise funds for the AFF. A wartime visitor to France in 1917 and 1918, Caroline Duer pasted “Photographs of Miss Morgan’s Headquarters” in the Ringwood guestbook entry dated September 23, 1918.
Both Susan Dwight Bliss (1882–1966), philanthropist and collector, and her mother Mrs. George T. Bliss were close to the sisters. Long, affectionate letters between them describe a warm friendship. Susan never married and lived with her mother in a grand house built in 1908 at 9 East 68th Street. They summered together in various social resorts, including Newport, the Hamptons, and Bar Harbor. After her mother died in 1924, she continued to add to her parents’ collections of rare books and manuscripts and fine decorative arts. Upon Sarah’s death in 1930, Susan served as a director of the Cooper Union Museum for many years and was a generous donor. Susan was a dedicated volunteer and patron of New York City hospitals. Libraries at Princeton, Yale, and Bowdoin are beneficiaries of her collections of rare books.” Margery Masinter
view all
Elizabeth Marbury's Timeline
| 1856 |
June 19, 1856
|
New York, NY, United States
|
|
| 1933 |
January 22, 1933
Age 76
|
New York, NY, United States
|