Adams, Marian Hooper (13 September 1843–06 December 1885), Washington hostess, pioneer photographer, and the wife of Henry Adams, Washington hostess, pioneer photographer, and the wife of Henry Adams, was born in Boston to Edward Hooper, a wealthy ophthalmologist, and Ellen Sturgis Hooper, a Transcendental poet. “Clover,” as she was called, grew up among an affectionate clan of community conscious relatives who offered her continuing warmth and encouragement after the death of her mother when she was just five. Her father subsequently gave up his regular practice in order to rear his three children. And he became especially close to Clover, the youngest....
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Adams, Marian Hooper (1843-1885), Washington hostess, pioneer photographer, and the wife of Henry Adams
Eugenia Kaledin
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Andrews, Regina (1901-1993), librarian and dramatist
Ethelene Whitmire
Andrews, Regina (21 May 1901–05 February 1993), librarian and dramatist, was born Regina M. Anderson in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, Illinois, to Margaret Simons Anderson, a clubwoman and ceramics artist, and William Grant Anderson, an attorney. Regina grew up in an upper-middle-class family because of her father’s success as a defense attorney, which earned him the nickname “Habeas Corpus.” Her views about race were no doubt shaped by her father’s fighting for racial justice for his clients and his collaboration with the antilynching advocate ...
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Andrews, Stephen Pearl (22 March 1812–21 May 1886), eccentric philosopher and reformer
Madeleine Stern
Andrews, Stephen Pearl (22 March 1812–21 May 1886), eccentric philosopher and reformer, was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, the son of Elisha Andrews, a Baptist clergyman, and Wealthy Ann Lathrop. He attended the village school and, after the family moved to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, in 1816, was taught at home by his father. In 1828 and 1829 he studied in the classical department of Amherst Academy, where he was influenced by Professor ...
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Astor, Brooke (1902-2007), philanthropist and socialite
Valerie Paley
Astor, Brooke (30 March 1902–13 August 2007), philanthropist and socialite, was born Roberta Brooke Russell in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr., a major general in the U.S. Marine Corps, and Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard. Her father, who ultimately became commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, rose in professional responsibility while serving in several important assignments after his daughter’s birth, beginning with his command of the battleship USS ...
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Astor, Caroline (1830-1908), society leader
Marilyn Elizabeth Perry
Astor, Caroline (22 September 1830–30 October 1908), society leader, was born Caroline Webster Schermerhorn in New York City, the daughter of Abraham Schermerhorn, a wealthy co-owner of a ship chandlery firm, and Helen White. Related to many prominent New York City families, Caroline grew up proud of her aristocratic background and social standing. After finishing her education in Europe, she married William Backhouse Astor, a son of one of America’s richest families, in 1853. The couple had five children....
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Barnett, Jackson (01 January 1856?–29 May 1934), wealthy American Indian
Tanis C. Thorne
Barnett, Jackson (01 January 1856?–29 May 1934), wealthy American Indian, was born in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory, the son of Siah Barnett, an African-Creek farmer, and Thlesothle, a Creek woman. During his childhood the Civil War violently split the Creek people, and the countryside was ravaged. Siah Barnett fled to Kansas with the Loyal Creeks. Thlesothle died in a refugee camp near Fort Gibson as the war ended. Given into the care of maternal relatives, the orphaned Jackson spent much of his youth and early adulthood transporting people and goods across the Arkansas River at John Leecher's ferry above Muskogee. While working as a ranch hand, Barnett fell from a horse and sustained a head injury. In the 1880s or early 1890s, Barnett relocated westward to the central Creek Nation, where he built a small cabin and established himself in a network of paternal kin. A shy man with a beaming smile, Barnett formed no romantic relationships with women. He spoke both English and Creek, but he had no schooling and led an obscure life as an unskilled laborer....
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Barney, Natalie Clifford (1876-1972), writer and salon hostess
Karla Jay
Barney, Natalie Clifford (31 October 1876–02 February 1972), writer and salon hostess, was born in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Albert Clifford Barney, a railroad car heir, and Alice Pike, a painter and philanthropist. Her childhood was spent in wealthy circles in Cincinnati and later in Washington, D.C., and Bar Harbor, Maine. She was educated at home by a French governess and in France at Les Ruches in Fontainebleau. By the turn of the century, she had decided to remain in Paris and write in French....
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Berkeley, Lady Frances (1634–1695?), influential figure in Virginia politics and society
Terri L. Snyder
Berkeley, Lady Frances (1634–1695?), influential figure in Virginia politics and society, was born Frances Culpeper in Kent, England, the daughter of Thomas Culpeper, a member of the Virginia Company, and Katherine St. Leger. Around 1650 she and her parents immigrated to the colony of Virginia. Members of her family played important roles in Virginia affairs both in the colony and at court. Her father was an original patentee of land in the Northern Neck of Virginia, while Alexander Culpeper, her brother, held an appointment as surveyor general of the colony (1671–1694), and ...
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Bingham, Anne Willing (01 August 1764–11 May 1801), leader of Philadelphia society during the Federalist period
Allida Shuman McKinley
Bingham, Anne Willing (01 August 1764–11 May 1801), leader of Philadelphia society during the Federalist period, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Thomas Willing, a wealthy importer and partner of Robert Morris (1734–1806), and Anne McCall, who oversaw Anne’s education. Anne studied literature, writing, French, music, drawing, and embroidery. Her childhood and youth were filled with social engagements shared with children of elite families, including her relatives the Byrds and the Shippens. Though her father refused to sign the Declaration of Independence and her family remained in occupied Philadelphia during the Revolution, they remained socially aloof from General ...
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Bingham, Anne Willing (01 August 1764–11 May 1801)
Maker: Gilbert Stuart
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Anne Willing Bingham. Engraving after a painting by Gilbert Stuart. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-101783).
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Blair, Eliza Violet Gist (1794–05 July 1877)
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Eliza Violet Gist Blair. Francis Preston Blair and Eliza Violet Gist Blair. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ6-1725).
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Blair, Eliza Violet Gist (1794–05 July 1877), newspaperwoman and political hostess
Olive Hoogenboom
Blair, Eliza Violet Gist (1794–05 July 1877), newspaperwoman and political hostess, was born in either Virginia or in Bourbon County, Kentucky, the daughter of Nathaniel Gist, an Indian agent and planter, and Judith Cary Bell. Eliza’s father died in 1797, and a decade later her mother married ...
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Bonaparte, Elizabeth Patterson (1785-1879), celebrity
Lewis L. Gould
Bonaparte, Elizabeth Patterson (06 February 1785–04 April 1879), celebrity, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William Patterson, a wealthy shipper and real estate investor, and Dorcas Spear, daughter of a well-to-do merchant. Elizabeth was the eldest daughter in a family of thirteen children. She was known as “Betsy” and received her education from her mother and at a French school in Baltimore. Famed for her beauty as a young woman, she was known as “The belle of Baltimore” (Mitchell, p. 35). She was also ambitious and willful and hungered for a life of excitement and adventure....
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Botta, Anne Charlotte (1815-1891), educator, writer, and literary hostess
Fritz Fleischmann
Botta, Anne Charlotte (11 November 1815–23 March 1891), educator, writer, and literary hostess, was born Anne Charlotte Lynch in Bennington, Vermont, the daughter of Patrick Lynch, a merchant, and Charlotte Gray. The family moved to Pennsylvania and later to Windham, Connecticut. In 1819 Patrick Lynch died at sea while going to claim land offered by the Cuban government to Irish refugees. His widow took their young children to Hartford, Connecticut. At sixteen Anne enrolled at the Albany Female Seminary in Albany, New York, graduating with honors in 1834 and staying on for some time to teach....
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Brooke, Abraham (1806-1867), physician and radical reformer
Thomas D. Hamm
Brooke, Abraham (1806–08 March 1867), physician and radical reformer, was born at Sandy Spring, Maryland, the son of Samuel Brooke and Sarah Garrigues, farmers. The Brooke family had been leading Quakers in Maryland for several generations, and Abraham attended Quaker schools at Sandy Spring before entering medical college in Baltimore. In 1829 he married Elizabeth Lukens, a fellow Quaker from Sandy Spring; they had three children. When the Hicksite-Orthodox schism took place among Quakers, the Brookes, like most Maryland Friends, sided with the Hicksite group....
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Brown-Potter, Cora Urquhart (1857-1936), actress
Adele S. Paroni
Brown-Potter, Cora Urquhart (15 May 1857–12 February 1936), actress, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Colonel David Urquhart, a banker and plantation owner, and Augusta Slocomb. Some sources list the year of her birth as 1859. Her childhood was spent in the gardens and drawing rooms of a prosperous, cultured New Orleans society. Cora displayed a talent for the stage at an early age and, encouraged by her French-born father, she often recited passages by writers such as Racine, Corneille, and Victor Hugo for family and friends. As a child Cora did not attend school but was educated both at home, benefiting from her parents’ extensive library, and through travel abroad. The family lived in Paris for two years during the unsettled period immediately following the Civil War. Cora later accompanied her grandmother on summer trips to Scotland, England, Norway, and Sweden....
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Burr, Theodosia (1783-1813), society belle and political heroine
James M. Clifton
Burr, Theodosia (21 June 1783– January 1813), society belle and political heroine, was born in Albany, New York, the daughter of Aaron Burr, a lawyer, politician, and later vice president of the United States, and Theodosia Prevost. Steeped in the educational philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, author of ...
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Calamity Jane (1852-1903)
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Calamity Jane Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-95040).
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Calamity Jane (1852-1903), legendary western woman
Carl V. Hallberg
Calamity Jane (01 May 1852–01 August 1903), legendary western woman, was born Martha Cannary in Princeton, Missouri, the daughter of Robert Cannary (also spelled Canary). Her mother’s identity is unknown. In 1865, enticed by news from the Montana gold fields, her father moved the family to Virginia City, Montana. After her mother died in 1866, the family settled in Salt Lake City. Following her father’s death in 1867, an adolescent but determined Calamity Jane traveled to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. From there she embarked upon the transient existence that would characterize her life in the West, especially in the Black Hills mining camps of South Dakota and Wyoming....
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Caldwell, Mary Gwendolin Byrd (1863-1909), philanthropist and socialite
Patricia Fox-Sheinwold
Caldwell, Mary Gwendolin Byrd (21 October 1863–05 October 1909), philanthropist and socialite, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of William Shakespeare Caldwell, a plant operator, and Mary Eliza Breckenridge. Soon after the death of Caldwell’s mother, her father, who had made a fortune constructing and operating gas plants in the Midwest, moved the family to New York City where, shortly before his death in 1874, he converted to Roman Catholicism and enrolled his two daughters in the Academy of the Sacred Heart, their primary source of education. Under the terms of his will, Caldwell and her sister, Mary Elizabeth, were made wards of Catholic friends and, on their twenty-first birthdays, were to donate a third of their vast inheritance to the Catholic church....
