Chapter 2: A Royal Wedding
The Moot: G. Pellew, John Jay, pp. 19–20.
“It appeared to me that you have more vivacity”: Quoted in L. Hobart, Patriot’s Lady, p. 39.
Details of Jay-Livingston courtship and wedding: Ibid., p. 34 ff.
Virginia Gazette: Quoted in J. A. Osborne, Williamsburg in Colonial Times, p. 71.
“is involved in the horrible sin”: Quoted in C. Brandt, An American Aristocracy, p. 163.
“That Englishman Dale”: Henry H. Livingston, interview with author.
Chapter 3: Manor Lords
Henry H. Livingston quoted: Interview with author.
Mrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston catches fire: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, p. 30.
Kiliaen Van Rensselaer’s purchase: C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 316.
Nicholas Van Rensselaer poisoned?: Henry H. Livingston, interview with author.
Chapter 4: Ancient Wealth
“an active and opulent merchant”: Quoted in R. B. Morris, ed., John Jay, p. 29.
Vicissitudes of Jay’s childhood and siblings: Ibid., p. 33.
“Considering the helpless”: Quoted in ibid.
Dr. Stoope’s school: G. Pellew, John Jay, p. 9.
College requirements: Ibid., p. 10.
“Not being of British descent”: Ibid., p. 7.
Jay on slavery issue: Quoted in L. Hobart, Patriot’s Lady, pp. 162–163.
Attitude of New York lawyers toward newcomers: Pellew, pp. 14–15.
College prank anecdote: Ibid., p. 13.
“eminent in the profession”: Ibid., p. 14.
“Though vilified”: Ibid., p. 46.
Spain’s aid to colonists: J. Trager, The People’s Chronology, p. 328.
Chapter 5: A Gentleman’s War
William W. Reese quoted: Interview with author.
Henry H. Livingston quoted: Interview with author.
The lost needle tale: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, p. 24 ff.
The Nannie Brown story: Ibid., p. 22 ff.
Chapter 6: Coronation in New York
The Jays in Paris: E. Ellet, The Queens of American Society, p. 64 ff.
Sarah’s letter to Mrs. Robert Morris: Quoted in ibid., p. 60.
Audience mistakes Sarah for queen: L. Hobart, Patriot’s Lady, p. 125.
Sarah’s “Dinner and Supper List”: C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 115.
Sarah’s entertainments and menus: Hobart, p. 171.
de Moustier: Ibid.
“Mrs. Jay gives a dinner”: Quoted in Ellet, p. 75.
Dr. Benjamin Rush: Quoted in L. De Pauw and C. Hunt, Remember the Ladies, p. 12.
de Chastellux: Quoted in ibid., p. 14.
Exchange of Sarah’s and John Jay’s letters: G. Pellew, John Jay, p. 279.
Love letters of the Jays: Ibid., p. 341.
Horace Walpole: Quoted in J. Trager, The People’s Chronology, p. 344.
Guillotin: Quoted in ibid., p. 342.
John Jacob Astor: Quoted in C. Brandt, An American Aristocracy, p. 179.
George Washington inaugural festivities: J. and A. Durant, Pictorial History of American Presidents, pp. 16–21.
John Jay on the Cincinnati: Quoted in Hobart, p. 209.
Chapter 7: The Great Silverware Robbery
“John, the non-Signer”: Quoted in S. Alsop, Stay of Execution, pp. 89–90.
Peter Corne anecdote: Ibid., p. 90.
“an elegant draft dodge”: Ibid., p. 55.
The Alsop silver story: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, pp. 27–29.
Mrs. Corinne D.R.A. Cole: Interview with author.
Chapter 8: From Camping Out with Indians … to Dinner at the Jays’
Schieffelin family history: Schieffelin-Trevor-Pardee family papers and genealogies, unpublished, courtesy of Mrs. Margaret Trevor
Pardee, quoted with permission.
Hannah Lawrence’s diaries: Ibid.
Hannah’s poem: Ibid.
Mrs. Murray’s diversionary tactic: Ibid.
Margaret Pardee quoted: Interview with author.
Chapter 9: Livingston Versus Livingston
New York–Massachusetts-Connecticut border disputes: C. Rand, “The Iron, the Charcoal, the Woods,” New Yorker 39 (August 10, 1963): 31.
“dodging the line”: Ibid.
“worse than northern savages”: Quoted in C. Brandt, An American Aristocracy, p. 81.
“Our people are hoggish”: Ibid.
The Indian-down-the-chimney story: As told to author by Henry H. Livingston in interview. (Brandt, p. 61, tells a different version that involves subduing, but not killing, the Indian.)
The Captain Kidd affair: Brandt, p. 41 ff.
The naming of Clermont dispute: Ibid., p. 76.
Chapter 10: Weak Blood
H. J. Eckenrode: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 293. “the weak strain”: Ibid., p. 298.
“I am an aristocrat”: Ibid., p. 300.
John of Roanoke on congressional salaries: Ibid., p. 303.
“I would not attempt”: Ibid.
“is a man of splendid abilities”: J. Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, p. 439.
“The surest way to prevent war”: Ibid.
“The transmission of estates”: Quoted in Amory, p. 294.
“a concealed voluptuary”: Quoted in J. and A. Durant, Pictorial History of American Presidents, p. 33.
Jefferson’s letter to his daughter: Quoted in Amory, p. 294.
Chapter 11: Morrises and More Morrises
“As New England”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 318.
“An aristocrat!”: Ibid.
Benjamin P. Morris, Jr., quoted: Interview with author.
Granny Morris and the Promoter: Ibid.
“Hell’s bells, woman!”: Ibid.
Chapter 12: Outsiders
“Big enough for two emperors”: Quoted in J. and A. Durant, Pictorial History of American Presidents, p. 30.
Mrs. Douglas Cruger–John Van Buren anecdote: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, pp. 47–48.
Verse written after Mrs. Douglas’s party: Quoted in ibid., p. 118.
“He dined here last night”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 470.
“My son can afford it”: Ibid.
“Really Mr. Astor is dreadful”: Ibid.
Chapter 13: Endangered Species
“How New York has fallen off”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 27.
“These leaders of gayety”: E. Ellet, The Queens of American Society, pp. 456–458.
“The really excellent”: Ibid., p. 458.
“We are all accustomed”: Ibid., p. i.
“Died yesterday”: Quoted in Amory, p. 27.
“love instead of lectures”: J. Roosevelt, My Parents, p. 11.
James Roosevelt V funeral and will: Ibid., p. 5.
Laura Delano’s eccentricities and quote: Ibid., p. 9.
“It will be too much Fun”: Ibid., p. 15.
“dragging the whole country”: Ibid., p. 16.
“Oh, dear me”: Alice Longworth to author; similarly, all the Longworth quotes that follow in this chapter.
PART TWO: BRAHMINS, KNIGHTS OF THE CHIVALRY, AND CALIFORNIA GRANDEES
Chapter 14: Knowing One’s Place
“Philadelphia was the first city”: Mrs. George Brooke Roberts to author.
“In Boston”: Miss Anna Ingersoll to author.
“When a Biddle is drunk”: Popular Philadelphia saying.
“was larger than any others”: Quoted in E. D. Baltzell, Philadelphia Gentlemen, p. 171.
“He had an English accent” and all subsequent J. Leland quotes: Mr. Leland to author.
“If a man’s father”: Mrs. St. J. Ravenel, Charleston: The Place and the People, p. 427.
“To be dropped”: Ibid., p. 428.
Chapter 15: O Ancestors!
“A group of English immigrants”: C. M. Andrews, The Fathers of New England, p. 19.
“Almost without exception”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 40.
“Oh, no. We sent our servants”: Ibid., p. 41.
“The Mayflower Society”: Ibid., p. 43.
“Of the background”: L. B. Wright, The First Gentlemen of Virginia, pp. 41–42.
“There was not a gentleman”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 43.
“They have to be anonymous”: Quoted in New York Times, March 26, 1985.
“We don’t have the slightest interest”: Ibid.
“I don’t know very much about politics”: Ibid.
“It was a very small dance group”: Ibid.
“My mother keeps asking”: Ibid.
Chapter 16: Beer and the Bourgeoisie
“The competitors were”: Quoted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15, 1977.
“What we all had in common”: Ibid.
“Without a doubt”: Quoted in International Celebrity Register, p. 115.
“I remember once”: Quoted in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15, 1977.
“For weeks afterward”: Ibid.
Chapter 17: O Pioneers!
“Everyone knows”: Gorham Knowles, interview with author.
“Each of these families knows”: Quoted in K. Waller and B. P. Cullen, “California’s Land Grant Aristocracy,” Town & Country 139 (December 1985): 139–147, 227–232.
“Don José de la Guerra’s house”: Ibid.
Details of life at Rancho Los Dos Pueblos: W. A. Tompkins, Santa Barbara’s Royal Rancho, p. 165 ff.
“Everybody is broke”: Ibid., p. 182.
“The government does nothing” and subsequent Bernardo Yorba quotes in this chapter: Interview with author.
“We families are all mixed”: Waller and Cullen, 142.
“Oh, about a thousand”: Ibid., 230.
“If I’m not one, who is?”: Mr. George T. Brady, Jr., interview with author. Similarly, other Brady quotes in this chapter.
PART THREE: HEIRS APPARENT
Chapter 18: Secret Society
“Only recently”: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, p. 32.
“That, sir”: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 83.
“He had the instinctive shrinking”: Ibid.
“The first thing”: Ibid., p. 84.
“If I have a hundred-thousand-dollar deal”: Anonymous interview with author.
“Part of the fun”: John Jay Iselin interview with author.
Chapter 19: Old Guard Versus New
“I think it’s not only possible”: Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder, p. 55.
“Mother told us”: Mrs. Margaret Trevor Pardee, interview with author. Similarly, all other Pardee quotes in this chapter.
Chapter 20: The Gospel of Wealth
Mrs. Fish’s landaulet accident: Pardee scrapbooks.
James Lee’s stand on anti-Semitism and the “Cathedral of Cooperation”: R. E. Hiebert, Courtier to the Crowd, p. 18.
McCosh influence on Ivy Lee: Ibid., pp. 21–22.
Carnegie’s gospel of wealth: Quoted in ibid., p. 22.
Chapter 21: Comme Il Faut
Description of “Horseback Dinner”: A. S. Crockett, Peacocks on Parade, p. 192.
Comments on the Bradley-Martin ball: Quoted in C. Amory, Who Killed Society?, p. 520.
Chapter 22: “To Serve …”
The Fortune articles: Quoted in L. T. Wertenbaker and M. Basserman, The Hotchkiss School, A Portrait, p. 133.
“It was the most natural thing”: F. Ashburn, Peabody of Groton: A Portrait, p. 71.
“Groton School is perfectly incomprehensible”: Quoted in Wertenbaker and Basserman, p. 135.
“He never seemed to enter”: Ibid.
“If some Groton boys”: Quoted in T. Morgan, FDR, p. 66.
“Don’t let Papa worry”: Quoted in ibid.
Henry Adams: Quoted in ibid., p. 60.
“In fact I’ve never understood” and other quotes in this paragraph: George Van Santvoord to author.
The new boys’ rules: G. N. Stone, “What’s Going On Here?,” Hotchkiss School Alumni Magazine (Winter 1983): 9–10.
“What is it you want to know?”: L. T. Wertenbaker and M. Basserman, The Hotchkiss School, A Portrait, p. 111.
“I am sure you have all heard”: Van Santvoord quoted from author’s memory.
Wilmarth S. Lewis quoted: Interview with author.
Chapter 23: The Bogus Versus the Real
Details of the Mabel Greer story: D. W. Peck, The Greer Case.
Chapter 24: Family Curses
“I happen to be a good Episcopalian”: Mrs. Ijams quoted by Timothy Beard in interview with author.
“He was my grandfather’s first cousin”: John Jay Iselin, interview with author.
“very morbidly conscientious”: R. B. Hovey, John Jay Chapman, p. 12.
“Certainly it is not respectable”: quoted in ibid., p. 21.
“To play like that”: Ibid., p. 20.
“The English stage”: Ibid., p. 14.
“The next thing I remember”: quoted in M.A.D. Howe, John Jay Chapman and His Letters, pp. 59–60.
“the great alienist”: Ibid.
“I am perfectly well and happy”: Ibid., pp. 60–61.
“Being an old agitator”: Quoted in R. B. Hovey, John Jay Chapman, An American Mind, p. 287.
“sane, though imaginative”: Ibid., p. 159.
Chapman’s last words: Ibid., p. 347.
“Now may I have your attention!”: Quoted in R. H. Boyle, At the Top of Their Game, p. 1.
“You have always said”: Ibid., p. 2.
“They don’t make any noise”: Ibid., p. 3.
“You can abolish”: Ibid.
“Close the blinds”: Ibid., p. 4.
“Isn’t it remarkable”: Ibid., p. 5.
“Winty knits”: Ibid.
The obscure Virginia statute: Ibid., p. 6.
The New York Post comment: Ibid., p. 7.
“Who’s loony now?”: Ibid., p. 7.
Ethel Barrymore quoted: Ibid.
Chapter 25: The Great Splurge
Town Topics: Quoted in M. M. Mooney, Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White, p. 77.
“I was brought up to be”: Mrs. Virginia Thaw Wanamaker, interview with Scott Areman.
“We were very privileged characters”: Mr. John Preston, interview with Scott Areman.
“It was as bad an upbringing”: Mr. Craig K. J. Mitchell, interview with Scott Areman. Similarly, all Mitchell quotes in this chapter.
“There are certain values”: J. Carter Brown, interview with author.
President Wriston anecdote: Ibid.
“That portrait”: Ibid.
“Not so”: Ibid.
“I remember driving”: Ibid.
“There are eight grandchildren”: Ibid.
“The English system”: Mrs. John Jermain Slocum, interview with author. Similarly, all other Slocum quotes in this chapter.
“Good morning, Mrs. Mortimer”: Craig Mitchell, interview with Scott Areman.
Chapter 26: The Family Place
“The last of the great”: John Jay Iselin, interview with author.
“My grandmother was”: Ibid.
“It seems to me”: Mary Livingston Ripley, interview with author.
“Yes, the Livingstons still take”: John Jay Iselin, interview with author.
“We don’t like to dine out”: Ibid.
“The family has always pulled its weight”: Eleanor Iselin Wade, interview with author.
The Mary-Ripley-at-Newport anecdote: Mrs. Ripley observed by author.
The Martha Breasted anecdote: Mrs. Breasted, interview with author.
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