George Washington Vanderbilt III
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person George Washington Vanderbilt III (September 23, 1914 – June 24, 1961) was an American yachtsman and scientific explorer who was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.
Early life
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, he was the younger son of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt. He was the brother of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. and a half-brother to William Henry Vanderbilt III from his father's first marriage to Ellen "Elsie" French. In 1915, when George was less than a year old, his father perished in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
His mother, Margaret, remarried two more times, first to Raymond T. Baker, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Baker, and second, to Charles Minot Amory.
He was a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne and was named in honor of his great-great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt and his great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt II. Vanderbilt's maternal grandfather, Isaac Edward Emerson, was a very wealthy businessman who made a fortune in a variety of business ventures including patent medicines, the most notable of which was Bromo-Seltzer. A sailing enthusiast, Emerson instilled a love for the sport in young George from an early age and as an adult, he used his sailing skills and wealth for scientific research.
He attended the St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and the Adirondack-Florida School studying at the Saranac branch in New York as well as in Miami.<ref name="4thMarriageNYT"/>
Inheritance and wealth
1915 - 1929: Father's Estate
Newspaper reports covering the 1917 appraisal of his father's estate in the New York Surrogate's Court suggest that George received $2,553,204 under his father's will, held in trust. He was to receive the income during his minority, and 25% of his share was to vest on his 21st, 25th, 30th, and 35th birthdays respectively.<ref>The Tacoma Daily Ledger. (9 August 1917). Alfred G Vanderbilt – Division of Estate. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 7 April 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tacoma-daily-ledger-alfred-g-vanderb/144925447/</ref>
In 1919 George and his brother Alfred jointly inherited a further $1,700,000 which had reverted to their father's residuary estate; this amount had been held in a trust that had formed part of the divorce settlement their father had paid to his first wife Elsie French, which ceased upon her remarriage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1929, George received an additional $1,002,507.70 under the terms of his father's Will, following a decision by the Surrogate's Court of New York concerning surplus funds from a trust established for his grandmother, Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. The trust, created under the will of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, had accumulated more income and principal than was required to meet Alice’s fixed annuity of $250,000 per year. The court ruled that the resulting $2,005,015.39 in surplus should revert to the residuary estate of Alfred Sr., who had designated George and his brother Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. as equal beneficiaries.<ref name="BTA1937">Template:Cite court</ref>
1931: Estate of Isaac Edward Emerson
Approximately $9 million of the $12.7 million estate of George's maternal grandfather, Isaac Edward Emerson, was placed in a 20-year Trust following Emerson's death in 1931.<ref name="BaltSun-1932">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Ryall1940" /> Under the terms of his grandfather's will, George was to receive 2% of the annual income, and 2% of the Trust Capital when it vested in 1951. His mother Margaret and her step-mother each received a 35.5% share of the trust.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The value of the Trust was reported to be approximately $6,000,000 when the Trust vested in 1951, indicating that George's share would amount to $120,000, and his mother's share as $2,130,000.<ref name="EveningSun-1951">Template:Cite news</ref>
1934: Estate of Alice G. Vanderbilt
George, his brother Alfred, and his half-brother William shared a $500,000 bequest in the Will of their paternal grandmother Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt following her death in 1934.<ref name="WhitneyPapers">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1940: Estimates by Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr.
A profile of George's older brother Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. in The New Yorker magazine included an estimate provided by Alfred of his inherited wealth (including trust funds) of $8,500,000; the article also noted that Alfred and George had received equal inheritances from the Vanderbilt and Emerson families.<ref name="Ryall1940">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
1950 - 1961: Divorce settlements
Vanderbilt married four times during his 47 years, and his series of divorce settlements reportedly diminished the fortune he had inherited from his father and grandfather. In 1958 his second wife Anita Zabala Howard Vanderbilt was awarded a $1,500,000 financial settlement in their divorce.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1962: Estate
Following his death in 1962, George W. Vanderbilt III's personal estate (exclusive of real estate) was valued at slightly more than $3,000,000 for probate. His fourth wife and widow Louise Mitchell Vanderbilt received the income from a third share of George's residuary estate which was placed in a trust, as well as the Shadow Valley Ranch near Edgewood, California. His only daughter Lucille Vanderbilt Brady received a trust fund consisting of the remaining residuary estate as well as the Arcadia Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Career
In 1936 and 1937, George Vanderbilt sponsored a renewal of auto races for the Vanderbilt Cup, founded by his uncle, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, in 1904.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy like his two brothers. He was promoted to lieutenant on May 1, 1943,<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/> and received the Legion of Merit award.<ref name="4thMarriageNYT"/>
Scientific research
Vanderbilt did not attend college, but by the time he turned 21, he had already led two expeditions to Panama and Africa, with some lasting up to 10 months, bringing back various snakes, fish, insects and birds.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/> In 1937, he went on a six month with the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences to the South Seas, bringing back 20,000 species of birds, fish and reptiles.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/> He owned several yachts and used them to conduct scientific expeditions all over the globe. His voyages conducted important research in expeditions to Africa in 1934 and aboard the schooner Cressida, he made an ocean journey in 1937 to the South Pacific (visiting many islands with a wide geographic range) that carried out a systematic study of more than 10,000 fish specimens (434 species in 210 genera).
His fifth major expedition was on the schooner Pioneer in 1941 to the Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, Panama, Galapagos Archipelago and Mexican Pacific Islands.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/>
He established the George Vanderbilt Foundation, of which he was president, for scientific research around marine biology.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/> However, outside of academic circles, his important work has mostly been overshadowed by the lavish lifestyles and the Vanderbilt mansions of some of the other members of the Vanderbilt family.
Personal life
George Vanderbilt was married four times throughout his life. His first marriage was in 1935,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> when he married Lucille "Lulu" Miriam Parsons (1912–2013).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lulu was born in Montclair, New Jersey and her father, J. Lester Parsons, founded the international re-insurance firm of Crum & Forster in 1896.<ref name="NYSD">Template:Cite news</ref> Together, George and Lulu had:
- Lucille Margaret Vanderbilt (1938 - 2018), who was married to Philip Brady, Jr from 1958<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> until their divorce 1962. Later in 1962, she married Robert Mathews Balding,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> divorcing in 1970. Her third and final marriage was to Wallace Fennel Pate (1933-1993).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1950,<ref name="4thMarriageNYT"/> the Vanderbilts divorced,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Lulu married Ronald Bush Balcom (d. 1994), a champion skier who had previous attained celebrity when he became the third husband of Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers.<ref name="NYSD"/> Also in 1950, George Vanderbilt married Anita C. Zabala Howard at his home in South Carolina. She was a descendant of one of California's first Spanish families and the former wife of California sportsman Lindsay C. Howard. They divorced in 1958 after nearly 8 years of marriage.
In 1958, he married for the third time to Joyce "Josh" Branning,<ref name="3rdWeddingNYT">Template:Cite news</ref> (1926–2016) daughter of Enid and Ralph Branning.<ref name="JoyceObit">Template:Cite news</ref> They later divorced and, in 1963, she married Edward L. Doheny III (d. 1999),<ref name="JoyceObit"/> grandson of Edward L. Doheny.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On March 23, 1961, he married Louise Mitchell Paine in Scottsdale, Arizona.<ref name="4thMarriageNYT">Template:Cite news</ref> She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Cancer Fund of America and was the daughter of Harold E. Mitchell and had previously been married to Edward Bragg Paine (d. 1951).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Edward's widow later married Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Vanderbilt's marriage to Paine only lasted for three months as Vanderbilt died in June 1961.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/>
Residences
In 1935, he purchased the Template:Convert Charles W. Sloane estate on Middle Neck Road in Sands Point on the Long Island Sound, shortly after his first marriage.<ref name="Lustig">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1937, he had commissioned a home by society architects Treanor & Fatio on the property.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He sold the home to Henry Lustig, founder of the Longchamps chain of restaurants, in 1945.<ref name="Lustig"/>
In 1946, he purchased Template:Convert in Siskiyou County near Lake Shastina and the Shasta–Trinity National Forest in northern California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1949, he built a large ranch house known as "Shadow Valley Ranch", along with a guest cottage, carriage house, tennis court, riding trails, waterfalls and several barns.<ref name="Szydlowski">Template:Cite news</ref> The home was host to many important people of the times, including overnight guests Harry Truman, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Alan Ladd and Ginger Rogers.<ref name="Reed">Template:Cite news</ref> The house was sold by his widow in 1990<ref name="Szydlowski"/> and burned down in 2012.<ref name="Kinkade">Template:Cite news</ref>
He also lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for 25 years and owned the Arcadia Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina,<ref name="4thMarriageNYT"/> which had been purchased by his grandfather, Dr. Emerson, in 1906.<ref name="Arcadia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
His former yacht, the Pioneer, is now the Yankee Clipper, which sails with passengers in the Caribbean for Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.<ref name="Warner">Template:Cite news</ref>
Death
On June 24, 1961, George Washington Vanderbilt apparently committed suicide by leaping from his 10th floor suite at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, California.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit">Template:Cite news</ref> His wife said he was despondent over unspecified business setbacks.<ref name="GWV3NYTObit"/> Investigators found large amounts of alcohol in his blood stream.
References
Notes
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Sources
- Curiosity served: Biltmore opens servants' quarters, Tim Whitmire, Associated Press via The San Diego Union-Tribune, December 25, 2005.
- Antiques of the Biltmore Estate at go-star.com