Margaret Chanler Aldrich

Margaret Livingston Chanler Aldrich also known as Angel of Puerto Rico (October 31, 1870 – March 19, 1963) was an American philanthropist, poet, nurse, and woman's suffrage advocate and prominent member of the Astor family. She was primarily known to be the owner of Rokeby in Barrytown, New York which she purchased from her siblings. Aldrich was a daughter of John Winthrop Chanler and wife of Richard Aldrich.

Margaret Chanler Aldridge
Aldrich, c. 1919
Born
Margaret Livingston Chanler

(1870-10-31)October 31, 1870
New York County, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1963(1963-03-19) (aged 92)
Red Hook, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Philanthropist, poet, nurse and advocate
Known forOwner of Rokeby

Life

Aldrich was born Margaret Livingston Chanler October 31, 1870 in New York County, New York to John Winthrop Chanler, prominent attorney and U.S. Representative from New York, and Margaret Astor Chanler (née Ward), who was an Astor heiress. Her maternal grandparents were Samuel Cutler Ward and Emily Astor, a daughter of William Backhouse Astor.

She served as a nurse with the American Red Cross during the Spanish–American War and Philippine–American War, travelling to the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, where she organized the care and treatment of wounded soldiers, for which she received a gold medal from Congress.[1] She helped pass a 1901 bill establishing the Women's Army Nursing Corps and later served as an advocate for rural nursing, encouraging community members to support nurses.[2]

Personal life

A daughter of the New York politician John Winthrop Chanler, and wife of the New York Times music critic Richard Aldrich, she was a member of the prominent Astor family, and later in life wrote of the family in her memoirs, Family Vista (1958). A proponent of women's suffrage, she was a past president of the Protestant Episcopal Woman's Suffrage Association.[3] In 1906, Chanler married Richard Aldrich, with whom she had two children.[4]

  • Richard Chanler Aldridge (May 16, 1909 - November 5, 1961)[5]
  • Margaret "Maddie" Aldrich (November 11, 1910 - April 25, 2011), married Byron A. DeMott of Santa Barbara, California.[6]

Margaret purchased from her siblings the family estate Rokeby, where she started a dairy farm. As of 2019, the property remains with her descendants.[7]

References
  1. "Will Be Her Third War". Lincoln County Record. Pioche, Neva. September 7, 1900. p. 2.
  2. Lewenson, Sandra B. (2017). "The Origins of Public Health Nursing: Meeting the Health Needs of Small Town America". In Sandra B. Lewenson; Annemarie McAllister; Kylie M. Smith (eds.). Nursing History for Contemporary Role Development. Springer Publishing Company. pp. 25–29. ISBN 978-0-8261-3238-3.
  3. Donovan, Mary Sudman (2005). "Creating a Neighborhood: The Social Service Networks of Mary Kingsbury Simkovitch". In Thompsett, Fredrica Harris; Kujawa-Holbrook, Sheryl A (eds.). Deeper Joy: Lay Women and Vocation in the 20th Century Episcopal Church. New York: Church Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 0898694795.
  4. "Biographical Sketch of Margaret Chanler Aldrich | Alexander Street Documents". documents.alexanderstreet.com. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  5. Pieter Estersohn (November 6, 2018). "Rokeby: The past is present". Antiques. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  6. "Paid Notice: Deaths DEMOTT, MARGARET ALDRICH". query.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  7. John Poppeliers (1973) "La Bergerie/Rokeby, River Road, Barrytown Vicinity, Dutchess County, New York: Photographs, Historical & Descriptive Data; Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C.


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