Mercedes (Morgan) Vanderbilt (1904 - 1965)

Born 23 Aug 1904 in Lucerne, Switzerland

Ancestors

Wife of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt — married 6 Mar 1923 in New York, New York

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 1965 at age 60 in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California

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Biography

Socialite. The mother of fashion designer, Gloria Vanderbilt. She was involved in a bitter custody battle for her daughter, after her husband's death, and lost. She is buried with her twin sister, Thelma, the Viscountess Furness. She is also the grandmother of CNN host Anderson Cooper.

Born at the Grand Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland, as Mercedes Morgan, she was a daughter of Henry Hays Morgan Sr (1860–1933), an American diplomat, who served as U.S. consul general in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Havana, Cuba; and Brussels, Belgium. Her mother was his second wife, the former Laura Delphine Kilpatrick (1877–1956); the couple was married in 1894 and divorced in 1927.

Her maternal grandfather, Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836–1881), was a Union Army general during the American Civil War who also served as the U.S. minister to Chile. Her maternal grandmother, Luisa Kilpatrick, née Valdivieso Araoz, was a member of a wealthy Spanish family that settled in Chile in the 17th century.

She was christened "Maria Mercedes" but as a teenage rat her Catholic school all the nuns shortened it to "Mercy," which she hated, so she changed her name to "Gloria."

On 6 March 1923, in New York City, at the townhouse of friends, Gloria Morgan—then believed to be 17 years of age and having received the legal consent of her father to wed—became the second wife of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, age 42, an heir to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune. On 20 February 1924, their only child, Gloria Laura, was born in New York City. Reginald Vanderbilt died on 4 September 1925 of what was described in news reports as "a throat infection which had caused internal hemorrhages.

From the 1940s until their deaths, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and her sister Lady Furness lived together in New York City and in Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Vanderbilt died in 1965 of cancer and was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery (Section D, Lot 176, Grave 2) in Culver City, California. Five years later, her sister Thelma died of a heart attack and was buried by her side.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Morgan_Vanderbilt
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5264

Gloria Morgan mentioned in the record of Reginold Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan Name Reginold Vanderbilt Event Type Marriage Event Date 06 Mar 1923 Event Place Manhattan, New York, New York, United States Gender Male Age 42 Marital Status Divorced Race White Birth Year (Estimated) 1881 Birthplace U.S.A. Father's Name Cornelius Vanderbilt Mother's Name Alise Spouse's Name Gloria Morgan Spouse's Gender Female Spouse's Age 18 Spouse's Marital Status Single Spouse's Race White Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1905 Spouse's Birthplace Luarne, Switzerland Spouse's Father's Name Harvey H. Morgan Spouse's Mother's Name Laura Kilpatrick CITING THIS RECORD

"New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24Z3-68Q : accessed 28 October 2015), Reginold Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan, 06 Mar 1923; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,653,738.

Mentioned in blog about Enid Lindeman http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-antics-of-enchanting-enid-wrestling.html