Heiress, Socialite, She was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. Grace was the youngest child of New York banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Sr. and Melissa Clementine Johnston. Grace's sister Mary ("May") married Ogden Goelet and her sister Belle married Sir Michael Henry Herbert, younger brother of the 13th Earl of Pembroke. The sisters were known in London society as "the marrying Wilsons." One of her brothers was banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr.. Another brother, Marshall Orme Wilson, married Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, youngest daughter of William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn of the Astor family. She eloped with Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne of the Vanderbilt family, in 1896. This led to a violent disagreement between Neily and his father, which lasted many years. Neily and Grace remained married for the rest of their lives and had two children. In 1940, Neily sold his Fifth Avenue mansion in New York City to members of the Astor family but remained living there until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage while vacationing in Miami Beach, Florida aboard his yacht in 1942. Following Neily's death Grace Vanderbilt was forced to move out of their massive Fifth Avenue mansion, and moved into the William Starr Miller House at 1048 Fifth Avenue which still stands today as the Neue Galerie. Grace was entombed next to her husband in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum on Staten Island.
Heiress, Socialite, She was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. Grace was the youngest child of New York banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Sr. and Melissa Clementine Johnston. Grace's sister Mary ("May") married Ogden Goelet and her sister Belle married Sir Michael Henry Herbert, younger brother of the 13th Earl of Pembroke. The sisters were known in London society as "the marrying Wilsons." One of her brothers was banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr.. Another brother, Marshall Orme Wilson, married Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, youngest daughter of William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn of the Astor family. She eloped with Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne of the Vanderbilt family, in 1896. This led to a violent disagreement between Neily and his father, which lasted many years. Neily and Grace remained married for the rest of their lives and had two children. In 1940, Neily sold his Fifth Avenue mansion in New York City to members of the Astor family but remained living there until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage while vacationing in Miami Beach, Florida aboard his yacht in 1942. Following Neily's death Grace Vanderbilt was forced to move out of their massive Fifth Avenue mansion, and moved into the William Starr Miller House at 1048 Fifth Avenue which still stands today as the Neue Galerie. Grace was entombed next to her husband in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum on Staten Island.
Family Members
Siblings
See more Vanderbilt or Wilson memorials in:
- Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum Vanderbilt or Wilson
- New Dorp Vanderbilt or Wilson
- Richmond County Vanderbilt or Wilson
- New York Vanderbilt or Wilson
- USA Vanderbilt or Wilson
- Find a Grave Vanderbilt or Wilson
