Sophia Augusta Brown Sherman
Photograph of Mrs. Sherman, c. 1914
Born(1867-04-21)April 21, 1867
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedJune 28, 1947(1947-06-28) (aged 80)
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1885; died 1912)​
ChildrenIrene Muriel Augusta Sherman
Mildred Constance Sherman
Parent(s)John Carter Brown
Sophia Augusta Browne Brown
RelativesJohn N. Brown (brother)
Harold Brown (brother)
Nicholas Brown Jr. (grandfather)
John N. Brown II (nephew)

Sophia Augusta Brown Sherman (April 21, 1867 – June 28, 1947)[1] was an American heiress and socialite who was prominent in New York and Newport society during the Gilded Age.

Early life

Sophia was born on April 21, 1867, in Providence, Rhode Island. She was the only daughter and youngest of three children born to John Carter Brown[2] and Sophia Augusta (née Browne) Brown (1825–1909),[3] a descendant of Roger Williams, a president of the Colony of Rhode Island.[4] Sophia had two older brothers, John Nicholas Brown I, who married Natalie Bayard Dresser (parents of John Nicholas Brown II, Asst. Secretary of the Navy), and Harold Brown,[5] who married Sophia's stepdaughter, Georgette Wetmore Sherman, in 1892.[6]

Reportedly, Sophia was favorite granddaughter of her paternal grandfather, Nicholas Brown Jr., the namesake patron of Brown University, and his wife, Ann (née Carter) Brown, daughter of John Carter, a prominent printer in Providence.[7] Through her father, she was a descendant of Nicholas Brown Sr., brother of John Brown, Moses Brown, and Joseph Brown, all merchants who were active in Rhode Island politics and who brought the College of Rhode Island to Providence in 1771.

In 1874, when Sophia was only seven years old, her father died and left the bulk of his estate, besides a $50,000 (equivalent to $1,293,235 in 2022 dollars) donation to Brown University, to his children, including Sophia.[8] Her mother later owned a cottage in Newport on Bellevue Avenue.[9]

Society life

The Sherman Cottage in Newport, before Sophia's 1890 expansion.

In Newport, Sophia and her husband lived at 2 Shepard Avenue in Ochre Point (in the present day Bellevue Avenue Historic District), which was built between 1875 and 1876 by Sherman and his first wife. The Shingle Style home was designed by architect H. H. Richardson and was expanded and updated by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White between 1879 and 1881. In 1890, Sophia hired Newport architect Dudley Newton for a second addition to add a ballroom and service wing.[10]

In 1892, the Shermans, and her brother Harold, were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[11][12] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[13]

In 1901, Théobald Chartran, who also painted her husband William, painted a double portrait of her daughters, Irene and Mildred, "charmingly dressed in white with pink sashes and pink ribbons in their hair. The portrait, set in a garden with the sea in the background, is placed within a circle."[14] In 1910, François Fleming painted an oil portrait of Sophia where her "elegantly coifed pompadour is topped by a coronet, and furs and jewelry add to her presence."[14]

Personal life

The Sherman Residence in New York City.

In 1885, after the death of his first wife in 1884, Sophia was married to William Watts Sherman (1842–1912).[15] His first wife, Annie Derby Wetmore, was a daughter of William Shepard Wetmore and sister of Sen. George Peabody Wetmore.[lower-alpha 1][5] William trained as a physician but followed his father into the banking firm of Duncan, Sherman & Company. In 1892, her family hired Clinton & Russell[20] to build them a New York residence at 838 Fifth Avenue across the street from 840 Fifth Avenue, the home of Mrs. Astor.[21] It was a five-story, double-wide Italianate home set back on 65th Street.[22] Together, William and Sophia had two daughters:[15]

Her husband died on January 22, 1912, at their home at 838 Fifth Avenue.[15] He was buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island.[31] Sophia died in Newport on June 28, 1947, and was buried next to her husband at Island Cemetery.[1]

Descendants

Through her eldest daughter, she was the grandmother of Eileen Sherman Gillespie (1915–2008), who became engaged to John Jacob Astor VI, but called off the wedding and, later, married banker John Jermain Slocum[32] (a descendant of John Jermain) who was the Harvard roommate of David Rockefeller,[33] and Phyllis Gillespie (1917–1972),[34] who married Alan T. Schumacher, an investment banker;[35] and Doris Beryl Gillespie (1921–1931), who died young.[24]

Through her daughter, Lady Camomys, she was the grandmother of Ralph Robert Watts Sherman Stonor (1913–1976), who succeeded his father to the barony;[30] the Honourable Pamela Sophia Nadine Stonor, (1917–2005) who married Lt. Col. Charles Pepys (a great-grandson of the 1st Earl of Cottenham) in 1941; and the Honourable Mildred Sophia Noreen Stonor (1922–2012), who married John Rozet Drexel III (a great-grandson of Anthony Joseph Drexel) in 1941, and was the mother of three children: Pamela Drexel, John Rozet Drexel IV (married to Mary Jacqueline Astor, daughter of John Jacob Astor VI), and Noreen Drexel.[36][37][38][39]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ William had two daughters from his first marriage, Georgette Wetmore Sherman (1872–1960), who married Sophia's brother, Harold Brown,[5] in 1892,[6] and Sybil Katherine Sherman (1875–1954), who married John Ellis Hoffman in 1896.[16] They divorced in May 1904,[17] and in December 1904,[18] she married Norrie Sellar (1872–1932), a prominent cotton broker who was the first cousin of A. Lanfear Norrie.[19]
Sources
  1. 1 2 "MRS. WATTS SHERMAN" (PDF). The New York Times. June 29, 1947. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "DEATH OF JOHN CARTER BROWN" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 June 1874. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "$30,000,000 TO MRS. SHERMAN; Reported Bulk of Mrs. John Carter Brown's Estate Goes to Daughter" (PDF). The New York Times. March 4, 1909. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Times, Special To The New York (1 March 1909). "Mrs. John Carter Brown" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "DEATH OF HAROLD BROWN.; He Was Ill on His Arrival on the Oceanic, and Died Last Night". The New York Times. 11 May 1900. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  6. 1 2 "YESTERDAY'S WEDDINGS.; BROWN -- SHERMAN". The New York Times. 5 October 1892. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "John Carter Brown, Inducted 2012". www.riheritagehalloffame.org. Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "BEQUESTS TO BROWN UNIVERSITY". The New York Times. 19 June 1874. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  9. ↑ Correspondent, Our Own (28 May 1876). "NEWPORT COTTAGE OWNERS; WHO THEY ARE, WHERE THEY LIVE. A BUSY SEASON ANTICIPATED BY THE HOTEL MEN RECENT ARRIVALS A FULL LIST OF ALL THE SUMMER RESIDENCES AND THEIR OWNERS". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "William Watts Sherman House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  11. ↑ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  12. ↑ Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 214. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  14. 1 2 Museum (R.I.), Newport Art (2000). Newportraits. UPNE. p. 114. ISBN 9781584650188. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 "Wm. Watts Sherman Dead. Prominent in New York Society and Father of Lady Camoys" (PDF). The New York Times. January 23, 1912. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  16. ↑ "MARRIED IN NEWPORT. The Wedding of J. Ellis Hoffman and Sybil Sherman" (PDF). The New York Times. October 13, 1896. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "TWO DIVORCES AT NEWPORT. C.L. Robert Freed from English Wife — Mrs. S.W.K. Hoffman Also Fee" (PDF). The New York Times. May 24, 1904. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  18. ↑ "SELLAR -- HOFFMAN. Mrs. Hoffman's Quiet Wedding a Surprise to Friends" (PDF). The New York Times. December 14, 1904. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  19. ↑ "Mrs. John Ellis Hoffman (ca. 1875-1955)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  20. ↑ Adams, Michael Henry (6 September 2009). "Newport: Yesterday's Seaside Paradise, Part I | The Obamas aren't coming to Newport to vacation, but one hundred or even fifty years ago they would have. An idyllic spot, it's about to become the subject of several new books". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  21. ↑ Hughes, Tyler (3 August 2012). "The Gilded Age Era: The William Watts Sherman Mansion, New York City". The Gilded Age Era. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  22. ↑ Miller, Tom (23 December 2013). "The Lost Wm. Watts Sherman Mansion -- 838 5th Avenue". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  23. ↑ "Mrs. Lawrence Gillespie, Active in Newport Society" (PDF). The New York Times. December 10, 1972. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  24. 1 2 "L.L. GILLESPIE DIES; RETIRED FINANCIER; Served as Senior Partner of Investment Company--Is Stricken in Home EARLY AVIATION SPONSOR Member of Colonial Family, He Was an Officer in the Spanish–American War" (PDF). The New York Times. February 8, 1940. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "Miss Sherman to Wed L. L. Gillespie" (PDF). The New York Times. June 10, 1910. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  26. ↑ "MISS SHERMAN WEDS LAWRENCE GILLESPIE Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Watts Sherman Married at Her Parents' Home in Newport. | WEDDED IN FLORAL BOWER | Bride's Gown of Ivory Satin Covered with Exquisite Alencon Lace—Many Guests at the Reception" (PDF). The New York Times. September 9, 1910. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  27. ↑ "LORD CAMOYS" (PDF). The New York Times. August 4, 1968. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  28. ↑ "LORD CAMOYS WEDS MILDRED SHERMAN Catholic Rector Performs Ceremony, but Bride Has Not Joined Husband's Church" (PDF). The New York Times. November 26, 1911. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  29. ↑ "PRE-NUPTIAL DEED OF THE CAMOYS FILED All of Miss Sherman's Property Trusteed at Time of Marriage Two Years Ago" (PDF). The New York Times. March 19, 1914. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  30. 1 2 "HEIR BORN TO CAMOYS. Former Miss Mildred Sherman of New York Has a Son" (PDF). The New York Times. July 7, 1913. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  31. ↑ "William Watts Sherman Buried". The New York Times. January 27, 1912. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  32. ↑ "Paid Notice: Deaths SLOCUM, JOHN JERMAIN". The New York Times. 14 August 1997. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  33. ↑ Weber, Bruce (1 August 2008). "Eileen G. Slocum, 92, Dies; Society Doyenne and Republican Stalwart". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  34. ↑ "Mrs. Alan Schumacher, 56, Headed the Colonial Dames" (PDF). The New York Times. December 19, 1973. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  35. ↑ "Alan T. Schumacher, Investment Banker, 78". The New York Times. 28 February 1991. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  36. ↑ Flynn, Sean (November 1, 2017). "Up from the ashes". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  37. ↑ William Norwich. "PUBLIC LIVES; A Newport Aristocrat Has Fallen for Everyman's Game" the New York Times 21 July 2001.
  38. ↑ "In Memoriam: John R. Drexel III " Archived 25 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine Drexel Daily Digest 24 April 2007, a publication of Drexel University.
  39. ↑ Photograph of Mrs Drexel
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