Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-03-09
WITH $8O,000,0O0.:.
SISTERS LIVE:
They Are Absolute Mis-
tresses Of Second Lar.
gest Estate IN
New York.


I'm the heart Of Manhattan, island. On
Fifth avenue itself, and within
three blocks Of Forty.seeond street,
uve three women who. with their
one sister who lives On Central Park
West, are absolute mistresses Of q for.
tune variously estimated at from SEQ
O0O, 900 70 $SO.OO0.O0A And al are ~
remote from and alien - the LIE Of
the great city around them a. they
would 10 on . desert island In the
south seas.
These four women ore the sisters
and the heiresses Of John Gqttlieb Wen
del. who died Dec. II. 1914, at Santa
Monica, Cal, and whose fortune. con.
sisting almost entirely q real estate
holdings In New York city, u second
only to the Astor estate among landed
properties in the Omitted 6tates The
Wendell estate. incidentally. antedates
that Of the Astors. as the FIRST John
Gottlieb Wendell turned from the fur
trade to the acquisition Of New York
real estate several years before the
first John Jacob Aston nude q similar
transition. "a @10 ga.
John G. Wendell died more than two
months ago, but the personalities Of the
inheritors Of this colossal fortune have
hitherto remained practically unknown
One Of Four Is Married.
OF the seven members Of the last
generation in the direct line Of the
Wendell family but four remain. OF
the seven only one. the eldest living
daughter, married. She has no chill
dren. She Is Mrs. Luther A. (Rebecca
A. g. WendeD Swope Of 249 Central
Park West. where she lives alone with
her husband. The exact ages Of the
four sisters are unknown even to their
few intimate friends. but Mrs. Swope
Is certainly past seventy. = nsp
She Is the only one of the family
who ever ventures abroad among her
kind. Accompanied by her husband,
who is past eighty, twice a week she
leaves their home to make the terrify
ing IL" Journey to the little old, fash.
toned Office at 175 Broadway, Where
all the complicated business affairs Of
the Wendell estate are transacted.
To the other three sisters, shrinking
from the responsibilities Of the wealth
and position thrust upon them by their
brothers death. Mrs Swope has nj
ways seemed the acme Of daring and
self reliance. and all affairs Of bust.
ness are left by them In her hands.
Mrs. Swope Is slender but square
shouldered woman, whose features
bear a striking resemblance to those
Vt her brother. She 10 Of medium
height and Is always dressed in deep
black and 10 the style Of thirty odd
years ago Her clothes usually are
worn almost to the point of dhAbbi.
ness Yel, While she would seem to Z
modern New Yorker . figure out Of .
past genera ton, she y moderniH II
self compared With her sisteEA
House Nsvsr Changed
The other sistsrs-Mary \ A., Ella
q. Won =. and Georgiana @. +, Wen
del-still cling to the cd house on ~
northwest corner Of Thirty ninth street
and Fifth avenue. directly opposite the
Union League club John Wendell In
cidentally. though q member Of this
club. did not. 10 far - known, cross
its threshold In twenty years before
bis death.
The Wendell house u q three story
brownstone front. red brick structure
It was built In 1855 and looks every
year Of its aga IT. original cost iwas
about 5000. and. Though t. stands On
Z lot now assessed at vsluss Of H.
ee7OeO. Il has never been altered aAe
renovated IN the slightest degSee i.
The library u The only rosm tesealed
70. visitors, but Il = probably tyUicalsof
an The door. like that ef ~ hAik h
q ee,oesd tilsa With ~ snalt rug
900 So ,.t4t