Marie Miller Kavanaugh began in Richmond, Virginia, where she was born Maria Magdalena Miller. She married William Haberle, a brewery heir from Syracuse New York. They lived in a typical upper middle class Queen Anne house on Prospect Avenue in Syracuse. Mr. Haberle died young, leaving her with two daughters. By 1912, she was in London with her daughter Leonora (whose marriage to a ne'er do well was a failure, and who seems actually never to have left home), and married that year to Colonel Kavanaugh, a cotton manufacturer from Waterford New York, who became colonel while serving in Governor Levi Morton's staff. Colonel Kavanaugh was a fabulously wealthy man, with blood as blue as it can get. He had served as a Republican delegate and was a member of Trinity Church. His fortune, estimated to be around $50 million, came from his inheritance and years of work. Soon after their marriage, they moved into a grand beaux arts town house at 10 East 62nd Street and they quickly began to appear in the Society columns. While Mr. Kavanaugh worked as a manufacturer, Mrs. Kavanaugh's occupation were Society and jewelry. If her portrait was painted, it isn't in the public domain, but she was photographed often, from the Beaux Arts Ball to El Morocco. Whereas Lady Decies is well documented by photos and portraits from her early years, her buddy Mrs. Kavanaugh seems to have sprung into the world, fully bejeweled and gowned after her 1912 move to New York. In 1943, with commercial invasion surrounding her, Mrs. Kavanaugh bought, for cash, the house next door, number 8, apparently to protect her property. The value of the combined properties that year was $211,000. Just as a point of reference, number 10 is currently valued at $22,500,000, and the far less grand number 8 at $2,160,000. Mrs. Kavanaugh continued to live in faded luxury throughout the 1940's and employed a staff of 15 people. When she died in 1954, she was the last of her era. Her estate of $15 million was drained of $10 million in taxes and the remainder left to her family. She will long be remembered for her luxurious lifestyle and her love of jewelry.
Marie Miller Kavanaugh began in Richmond, Virginia, where she was born Maria Magdalena Miller. She married William Haberle, a brewery heir from Syracuse New York. They lived in a typical upper middle class Queen Anne house on Prospect Avenue in Syracuse. Mr. Haberle died young, leaving her with two daughters. By 1912, she was in London with her daughter Leonora (whose marriage to a ne'er do well was a failure, and who seems actually never to have left home), and married that year to Colonel Kavanaugh, a cotton manufacturer from Waterford New York, who became colonel while serving in Governor Levi Morton's staff. Colonel Kavanaugh was a fabulously wealthy man, with blood as blue as it can get. He had served as a Republican delegate and was a member of Trinity Church. His fortune, estimated to be around $50 million, came from his inheritance and years of work. Soon after their marriage, they moved into a grand beaux arts town house at 10 East 62nd Street and they quickly began to appear in the Society columns. While Mr. Kavanaugh worked as a manufacturer, Mrs. Kavanaugh's occupation were Society and jewelry. If her portrait was painted, it isn't in the public domain, but she was photographed often, from the Beaux Arts Ball to El Morocco. Whereas Lady Decies is well documented by photos and portraits from her early years, her buddy Mrs. Kavanaugh seems to have sprung into the world, fully bejeweled and gowned after her 1912 move to New York. In 1943, with commercial invasion surrounding her, Mrs. Kavanaugh bought, for cash, the house next door, number 8, apparently to protect her property. The value of the combined properties that year was $211,000. Just as a point of reference, number 10 is currently valued at $22,500,000, and the far less grand number 8 at $2,160,000. Mrs. Kavanaugh continued to live in faded luxury throughout the 1940's and employed a staff of 15 people. When she died in 1954, she was the last of her era. Her estate of $15 million was drained of $10 million in taxes and the remainder left to her family. She will long be remembered for her luxurious lifestyle and her love of jewelry.
