Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly
Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly (January 8, 1854 – April 11, 1952) was an American heiress and a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family. She and her husband built Florham, a gilded age estate in Madison, New Jersey. Early life. Florence was born on Staten Island in New York City on January 8, 1854. She was a daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt (1821–1885) and Maria Louisa Kissam (1821–1896). Her siblings were Cornelius II, Margaret Louisa, William Kissam, Frederick William, Eliza Osgood, Emily Thorn, and George Washington II. Her paternal grandfather was the Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877), of whom  she was the last surviving grandchild when she died aged 98 in 1952. Residences. Florence was known for her many elaborate homes, including her townhouse at 684 Fifth Avenue in New York City that was designed by John B. Snook and given as a gift from her father, William Henry Vanderbilt. The home was sold to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1925, and has since been demolished. Her Vinland, a Romanesque "cottage" in Newport, Rhode Island built in 1882 for tobacco heiress Catharine Lorillard Wolfe by Peabody & Stearns, purchased by the Twomblys in 1896 and greatly enlarged. Interiors by Ogden  Codman. Now part of Salve Regina University and called McAuley Hall. Florham, an 800-acre estate in Florham Park, New Jersey designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1897. Part of it including the manor house now belongs to Farleigh Dickinson University. At Florham, Florence had a fleet of fifteen cars, including six maroon Rolls-Royces. A second townhouse was a 70-room house located at 1 East 71st Street, New York City that was designed by Whitney Warren and has also since been demolished. Personal life. In 1877, Florence married Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849-1910). He was the son of  Alexander Hamilton Twombly (1804–1870) and Caroline (née McKown) Twombly (1821–1881). Together, they had four children: Her husband died in 1910 after an extended illness. According to an obituary, his death was from "cancer and a broken heart" over the death of his son. She died April 11, 1952 in New York City, having outlived her husband by 42 years. She is in interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Descendants. Through her daughter Florence, she was the grandmother of William A. M. Burden II (1906–1984), a banker who served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1959 to 1961, and Shirley  Carter Burden (1908–1989), a prominent photographer.