While doing some Vanderbilt research tonight, I cam across this photo of Nieves Orozco taken in 1947 by Fritz Henle. I thought it was just gorgeous so I’m sharing it here.
Nieves was a model of Diego Rivera’s and wife of Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Frederick Vanderbilt Field was a 2nd great-grandson of the Commodore.
From the State Library of Florida’s online Flickr collection
This photo was taken at the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida March 14, 1896. Pictured in the photograph are Left to Right: Colonel Philip M. Lydig, Miss Helen Morton, Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, Miss Amy Townsend, Captain A.T. Rose, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Miss Edith Bishop, Miss Mabel Gerry, Thomas Cushing, Edward Livingston, Dudley Winthrop, Craig Wadsworth, Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt, Lispenard Stewart, Harry P. Whitney, Miss Sybil Sherman, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt would be Alice Claypoole Gywnne – her daughters Gladys & Gertrude are also here. Several months later, Gertrude & Harry would marry. I’m not sure which Cornelius this is in the photo, but maybe her son Cornelius?
I love it when I come across a new Vanderbilt connection. :-). This past weekend I visited Augusta, Georgia for a work conference. While touring the Morris Museum of Art, the docent happened to make a casual reference to “the hotel that the Vanderbilt’s stayed at” called the Bon Air. Ooh! Vanderbilts & Augusta?
So, of course I have to look it up. And, interestingly enough, the topic happened to coincide with a comment I received on the blog back in September.
Bon Air Vanderbilt Hotel
The Bon Air Hotel in Augusta, Georgia opened in 1923 and was one of 4 hotels the Vanderbilts established so they could cover every season. It seems Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt was the family member behind them (at least initially; he died in 1915). The 4 distinct hotels were:
With the completion of the Bon Air Vanderbilt, the hotels under Mr. Marshall’s direction will provide every seasonal requirement; a winter resort in Augusta, a summer resort in Newport, an any-time-of-the-year vacation spot in Porto Rico and an all-year home or temporary stopping place in New York. — Morning Olympian newspaper 11/28/1922.
The hotel closed eventually and is now a residence for the elderly. It looks like a beautiful building though. Wish I would have had time to at least drive by while in town.
Two Vanderbilt hotels I’ve now learned about within the past 30 days. Kinda neat. 
From the St. Petersburg Times newspaper of St. Petersburg, Florida
June 22, 1901 (pg. 2)
According to this excerpt, in the first city directory of New York published more than 100 years prior, the Van der Bilt’s listed were not members of the Commodore’s family.
Source: Google News Archive
Right now, my husband and I are watching the movie Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. This is one of his favorite movies and we hope one day to actually visit the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island where the movie takes place.
Vanderbilt Suite at the Grand Hotel
Well, he just told me that there is a suite there called the Vanderbilt Suite, so off I go to find out what the association could be and guess what I learn – the hotel was opened in 1887 by a group of investors headed by the Commodore! Very cool. I must research this further.
Today a new comment was posted on the site by William. He wanted to know where in New Brunswick the Bellonia Hotel was located?
Does anyone know where specifically within the city of New Brunswick, NJ William Henry Vanderbilt (1821-1885) was born? The address or at least the street the family lived on while living in New Brunswick?
This is what I know: a little more than three years ago, I found a sketch of the Bellona Hotel in a New York Times (NYT) article. The hotel was run by Mrs. Vanderbilt and carried the same name as the steamboat the Commodore operated for Thomas Gibson. She was quite successful in operating it and the family made good money from it; her success with the hotel was fundamental to the start of his career. The building was built in 1803.
So how do we find out where the hotel was located? A little more research and this is what I found out tonight:
excerpt from pg. 141 - Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society (Volume 3)
And what do you know? A search of the newspaper collection from the Library of Congress reveals an article from the February 8, 1901 issue of the San Francisco Call newspaper that also gives the hotel’s location on Burnet street.
Furthermore, a search of the digital archives of the New Brunswick Daily Times, retrieves an article about a slaughterhouse to be built at the location of the former hotel ”on lower Burnet street..”
excerpt from the March 13, 1913 issue of the New Brunswick Daily Times
I’m pretty sure now that the hotel was on that street and William was born there. Depending on William’s specific needs, next steps may be to:
If you guessed Anderson Cooper then yes, you would be right! However, he’s a CNN journalist – he gets around most places . There is a chance some lesser known Vanderbilt descendants may be there also.
With all the festivities, I of course had to post about Vanderiblt connections to the event. Those interested in the Vanderbilt family may remember that the Commodore’s great-granddaughter Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) married into the British royal family. It was apparently not a marriage Consuelo desired, but her and husband Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough were married for almost 30 years and had two children together. I don’t have Conseulo’s descendancy tree completely filled in, however, her kids are relatives of Prince William.
Consuelo’s children, John Albert Edward William Spencer-Churchill and Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill share a common ancestor with Princess Diana; his name was James Hamilton, Duke of Abercorn. The Duke of Abercorn was their great-grandfather and is Prince William’s 4th great-grandfather. I wonder if any of Consuelo’s descendants are attending the wedding of their cousin Some of them, such as Lady Henrietta Mary Spencer-Churchill (a granddaughter of Consuelo’s), live right there in London.
