John R. Drexel

John Rozet Drexel (March 3, 1863 – May 18, 1935) was an American banker and socialite.

Early life

Drexel was born on March 3, 1863, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest surviving son, of nine children, born to Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893) and Ellen (née Rozet) Drexel (1832–1891). Among his siblings were: Emilie Taylor Drexel,[1][2] Frances Katherine Drexel, Mae E. Drexel, Sarah Rozet "Sallie" Drexel (the wife of Alexander Van Rensselaer),[3] Anthony Joseph Drexel Jr., and George William Childs Drexel.[4]

In 1871, his father founded Drexel, Morgan & Co with John Pierpont Morgan as his junior partner. His father also founded Drexel University in 1891.[5] His maternal grandparents were Mary Ann (née Laning) Roset and John Roset, a Philadelphia merchant of French birth.[6] His paternal grandparents were Austrian-born American banker Francis Martin Drexel and Katherine (née Hookey) Drexel.[7][8]

Career

After an education by tutors and in private schools, Drexel began working for his father's firm, Drexel & Co. in Philadelphia, and was made a partner.[9][10] After a short time, he retired from the business and instead managed his inheritance.[6]

Residences
Fairholme, the Drexel villa in Newport

In 1901, the Drexels relocated to New York City and, in 1903, built a large limestone residence at 1 East 62nd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City,[lower-alpha 1] designed by Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer.[lower-alpha 2] In 1929, the Drexels sold their New York mansion was sold to 65-year old James Blanchard Clews, senior partner of the brokerage house Henry Clews & Co.[lower-alpha 3]

In Newport, Rhode Island, they built a modest cottage known as Cliff Lawn, which was later given to son John, after which they acquired and extensively remodeled, likely by Trumbauer, into a massive Tudor revival mansion called Fairholme at Ochre Point, down the street from Cliff Lawn.[12] Fairholme had been designed in the Stick style by Frank Furness and built between 1874 and 1875 for Philadelphia arts patron and engineer Fairman Rogers. Fairholme was sold to Robert R. Young in 1942.[13]

At the start of the Great Depression, the Drexel's relocate to Paris following their daughter's elopement with Captain Barrett. After several years at the Hotel Ritz, they bought a large townhouse at 34 Rue François Premier in Paris and filled it with French antique furniture. They also developed a large art collection which they built an addition to their Paris townhouse to house it. To accommodate the 40,000 flower beds his wife had purchased at auction, they purchased the home behind them and demolished it, allowing for a large garden to be constructed.[14]

Personal life
Portrait of Mrs. John R. Drexel Sr., by Albert Abendschein, c. 1895

On April 27, 1886, Drexel was married to Alice Gordon Troth (1865–1947) at St. James' Episcopal Church in Philadelphia by the Rev. Dr. Morton.[15] She was a daughter of William Penn Troth and Clara Sharpless (née Townsend) Troth of Philadelphia.[16] Together, they were the parents of four children:[15]

  • Lillian Mae Drexel (1889–1894), who died young.[15]
  • John Rozet Drexel Jr. (1890–1936),[17] who married Elizabeth Hough Thompson (1896–1943), a daughter of James Beaton Thompson, in 1918. They divorced in 1924,[18] and he married Jane Barbour, a daughter of John Robert Taliaferro Barbour and a descendant of President Zachary Taylor, in 1925.[19]
  • Alice Gordon Drexel (1892–1959), a debutante who eloped Captain William Barrett, of the Army Air Service, a son of Oregon State Senator William N. Barrett.[20][21] They separated a year later.[22]
  • Gordon Preston Drexel (1895–1964),[23] who never married and "passes most of his time traveling."[6]

In 1903, his wife was a guest of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at a ball in Windsor Castle, and at luncheon at Ascot.[16] Drexel owned the steam yacht Sultana, "but he never was the yachting enthusiast that his brother, the late Colonel Drexel, became. Acquaintances said that he seemed to be a man without hobbies or avocations."[6]

Drexel died on May 18, 1935, at his residence in Paris from a stroke suffered immediately following the death of his brother Anthony.[6] When John died in 1935, he left most of his estate to John Jr. and Alice. The estate within the jurisdiction of Philadelphia courts was $1,285,292.[24] Upon his wife's death in 1947,[16] she left most her estate to her grandson, John R. Drexel III, including millions in cash, jewels, gems, paintings, furniture, silverware, gold, personal affects, artwork, antiques, personal papers.[25] He also inherited her Paris property, New York property, Newport property, Philadelphia property and a large trust.[26]

Descendants

Through his son John Jr., he was a grandfather of John Rozet Drexel III (1919–2007), who married Noreen Stonor,[27] a daughter of Ralph Stonor, 5th Baron Camoys (and his American wife Mildred Constance Sherman) of Stonor Park,[28][29][lower-alpha 4] David Anthony Drexel (1927–2003),[31] who married Joan Gripenberg (daughter of Georg Achates Gripenberg, the Finnish Minister to London, Sweden, and the United Nations),[32] and Jane Barbour Drexel (1929–2008),[33] who married Harry Marshall Vale Jr.,[34][35] and John Porteous II,[36]

Through his daughter Alice, he was a grandfather Edwin Gerald William Barrett (1920–1921), who died aged 10 months from meningitis.[22]

References

Notes

  1. To construct 1 East 62nd Street, the brownstones of Martin E. Green at 1 East 62nd Street and Prudence Boynton at 3 East 62nd Street were purchased and torn down providing a 42 feet wide plot for the construction of the Drexel house.[11]
  2. After moving to New York City and while their home was being constructed, they leased Frederick W. Vanderbilt's mansion at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 40th Street in 1901 while the Vanderbilts were away for the winter. The following season they leased the home of the late Samuel D. Babcock, at 636 Fifth Avenue at the 51st Street (today the International Building at Rockefeller Center).[11]
  3. After Clews' death in 1944, his heirs divided the building into upscale apartments and later residents included Ernest Hemingway and Joan Rivers.[11]
  4. Upon the death of Lady Camoys (née Mildred Constance Sherman) in 1943, Noreen and John inherited the Stonor's Newport residence, Stonor Lodge, which burnt down in 2016.[30]

    Sources

    1. "The Theater: New Plays in Manhattan". Time magazine. December 3, 1956. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
    2. "Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Dead. Ambassador to Spain Was 64. Envoy and Officer in World War II. Tributes Paid by Kennedy and Eisenhower". The New York Times. November 14, 1961. p. 39. Retrieved April 10, 2010. Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, ambassador to Spain and for many years one of this country's most distinguished diplomats, died today at Walter Reed Army ...
    3. "A. Van Rensselaer, Arts Patron, Dead | Philadelphia Philanthropist and Sportsman Succumbs to Long Illness at 82. | Princeton life trustee | President of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association From 1901 Till Recently" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 July 1933. p. 17. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
    4. "Anthony J. Drexel is Dead". The New York Times. Philadelphia. July 1, 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-02-15 – via Newspapers.com. News of His Death Sent by Cable from Carlsbad. He Went There in Poor Health to Spend the Summer. Last of the Sons of the Founder of His House. Known All Over the World as a Financier. A Philanthropist as Well. Connected with Many Gigantic Transactions.
    5. Rottenberg (2001).
    6. "JOHN DREXEL, 72, DIES IN PARIS HOME; Retired Philadelphia Banker Suffered Stroke When Brother, Anthony, Died". The New York Times. 19 May 1935. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    7. "Francis Drexel's Will". The New York Times. Philadelphia. 23 February 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-02-15 – via Newspapers.com.
    8. McDonald, Edward D.; Edward M. Hinton (1942). Drexel Institute of Technology 1891–1941. Haddon Craftsmen, Inc. pp. 4–5. ISBN 1-4067-6374-8.
    9. Rottenberg 2001
    10. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. James T. White. 1921. p. 273. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    11. Miller, Tom (1 November 2012). "The 1903 John R. Drexel House -- No. 1 E. 62nd Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    12. "John R. Drexel | Fairholme // 1875". buildingsofnewengland.com. Buildings of New England. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    13. "BUYS ESTATE AT NEWPORT; Robert R. Young Acquires Former John R. Drexel Property". The New York Times. 27 December 1942. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    14. Times, May Birkhead Wireless To the New York (12 July 1931). "TAYLORS ENTERTAIN AT FRENCH CHATEAU; Many Americans Are Guests at Afternoon Party at Viroflay, Near Versailles. OLD TREES SURROUND HOME Mr. and Mrs. John R. Drexel Give Housewarming at Their New Residence in Paris". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    15. Ogden, Charles Burr (1898). The Quaker Ogdens in America: David Ogden of Ye Goode Ship "Welcome" and His Descendants 1682-1897. J.B. Lippincott. p. 209. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    16. "MRS. JOHN R. DREXEL SUCCUMBS IN PARIS". The New York Times. 10 December 1947. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    17. "JOHN R. DREXEL JR. DIES AT AGE OF 44; Member of Family Prominent in New York, Newport and Philadelphia Society. ONCE A NOTED HORSEMAN III for Last Year at Beacon, N. Y. --Funeral Services Will Be Held in Philadelphia". The New York Times. 17 March 1936. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    18. "J R. DREXEL JR, TO WED BUSINESS GIRL; Just Divorced by Former Elizabeth Thompson in Reno, Ha Willi Wed Miss Jane Barbour". The New York Times. 14 December 1924. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    19. "MISS SCHENCK WEDS FENTON B. TURCK JR.; Ceremony in the Church of the Incarnation, With the Reception at Sherry's. DREXEL-BARBOUR NUPTIALS Miss Ida A. Rupertl Marries Charles R. Marshall, Mrs. Alice C. Hemdon, Dixon Boardman.'". The New York Times. 18 January 1925. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    20. "MISS DREXEL A DEBUTANTE.; Presented by Her Mother, Mrs. John R. Drexel, at Newport Garden Party". The New York Times. 16 July 1911. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    21. "MISS DREXEL GIVES WEDDING SURPRISE; Only Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Drexel Marries Capt. Wm. Barrett, U.S.A. NEW ROCHELLE CEREMONY Miss Katharine S. Haven Weds Johnston L. Redmond--Nuptial of Ensign McCloud and Miss Cawley. Miss Haven Weds J.L. Redmond. McCloud-Cowley. Gilbert Gabriel Weds Miss Vorhaus. Wed to Major Richmond Stephens". The New York Times. 6 June 1919. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    22. Hoffman, Helen (1 May 1921). "The Pearls that Turned to Tears". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 2. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    23. "Kusinitz Will Is Probated". Newport Mercury. 13 November 1964. p. 6. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    24. "J. R. Drexel Left $1,285,292". The New York Times. 24 August 1937. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    25. "Drexel, John Rozet | ArchivesSpace Public Interface". archivalcollections.drexel.edu. Drexel University. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    26. "ESTATE OF $6,000,000 LEFT BY MRS. DREXEL". The New York Times. 5 August 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    27. "Noreen Stonor Wed in St. James; Younger Daughter of Lord and Lady Camoys Bride of John R. Drexel 3d Here Hon. Mildred Noreen Stonor Becomes Bride Of John R. Drexel 3d in St. James Church". The New York Times. 12 January 1941. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    28. Hevesi, Dennis (22 April 2007). "John R. Drexel III, Socialite and Scion of a Banking Family, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    29. Ferretti, Fred (12 August 1985). "NEWPORT: BREAKERS BALL LIGHTS UP A NIGHT". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    30. Winthrop, Christian (25 February 2016). "Huge Fire Destroys Drexel Estate on Bellevue Avenue". Newport Buzz. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    31. "David Drexel". The Charlotte Observer. 3 December 2003. p. 24. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    32. "Miss Joan Gripenberg Becomes the Bride Of David Anthony Drexel In Stockholm". The New York Times. 28 July 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    33. "Jane Vale Drexel Porteous". Palm Beach Daily News. 3 December 2008. p. 2. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    34. "H.M. VALE JR. FIANCE OF JANE B. DREXEL; Air Force Veteran, Princeton Alumnus, Engaged to Former Red Cross Assistant". The New York Times. 9 July 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    35. "NUPTIALS IN PARIS FOR JANE DREXEL; Member of Noted Family the Bride of Harry Marshall Vale Jr. of Princeton". The New York Times. 18 August 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
    36. Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1997. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

    Further reading
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