Hetty Sylvia Ann Howland Robinson Green Wilks
Sylvia (right) on her wedding day with her mother (left) and her husband Matthew Astor Wilks (center).
Born
Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green

(1871-01-07)January 7, 1871
London, England
DiedFebruary 5, 1951(1951-02-05) (aged 80)
New York City, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1909; died 1926)​
Parent
Relatives

Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Robinson Green Wilks (January 7, 1871 – February 5, 1951) was one of the wealthiest women in the United States.[1]

Early life

Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Robinson Green was born in London, England on January 7, 1871. Although named Harriet after her mother, she was known as Sylvia throughout her lifetime. She was the daughter of Hetty Howland (née Robinson) Green and Edward Henry Green. Her only sibling was a brother, businessman Edward Howland Robinson Green.

Personal life

On February 23, 1909, Sylvia, then 38 years old, was married to 63-year-old Matthew Astor Wilks (1844–1926) in Morristown, New Jersey. Wilks was a great-grandson of America's first millionaire John Jacob Astor.[2] Although Wilks was worth approximately $2,000,000 in his own right, her mother insisted that they have a prenuptial agreement waiving his right to inherit Sylvia's fortune.[3] When her brother died in 1935, she inherited his estate, rather than the estate going to his widow.[1]

Her husband died on July 9, 1926, at his home, 7 West 81st Street in New York City.[4] He was buried at Immanuel Cemetery in Bellows Falls, Vermont.[5]

Sylvia, who was then living at 998 Fifth Avenue,[6] died at New York Hospital on February 5, 1951,[7] and was buried alongside her husband at Immanuel Cemetery in Vermont. She left an estate valued at $94,965,229 (approximately $1,071,064,000 today).[8][9][10] The list of assets included 36 pages of bonds, eight pages of blue-chip stocks, and $31 million in a non-interest bearing checking account.[11][12]

Estate

Her will was found stuffed in a tin cabinet with four cakes of soap. She bestowed just $5,000 on her closest genetic relative, a cousin, but the court awarded her $140,000 during probate. The remainder was divided between 63 charities and educational institutions.[11]

Wilks donated $3 million to the FDNY's Honor Emergency Fund.[13] In 1958 the Fire Department commissioned a new $900,222 fireboat named in her honor.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Green Grist". Time. May 3, 1937. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved 2008-06-08. A surprise witness at the first session was tall, sharp-nosed, bespectacled Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks, 66, whose right to her brother's fortune by terms of a will drawn nine years before his marriage has been challenged by Colonel Green's widow, redheaded Mabel E. Harlow Green, 66.
  2. ↑ "Matthew A. Wilks Dies. J.J. Astor Descendant. Son-in-Law of the Late Hetty Green Was a Member of Many Clubs". The New York Times. August 4, 1926. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  3. ↑ Slack, Charles, Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon. New York: Ecco (2004) ISBN 0-06-054256-X.
  4. ↑ "Matthew A. Wilks Dies. J.J. Astor Descendant. Son-in-Law of the Late Hetty Green Was a Member of Many Clubs" (PDF). The New York Times. August 4, 1926. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  5. ↑ "MATTHEW A. WILKS'S WILL.; Mrs. Hetty Green's Son-In-Law Left Estate to Widow" (PDF). The New York Times. September 21, 1926. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Netburn, Deborah (7 August 2000). "Astor's 998 Fifth Home Gets $16 Million Nibble; Buyers Kept on Ice". Observer. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "MRS. HETTY WILKS DEAD AT AGE OF 80. Daughter Of Hetty Green, Noted For Financial Manipulations, Wed Descendant Of Astor "Accustomed To Economy" Active Until Last Year" (PDF). The New York Times. February 6, 1951. Retrieved 2008-06-09. Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks of 988 Fifth Avenue, widow of Matthew Astor Wilks, and daughter of Hetty Green, the famous woman financier, died yesterday in the New York Hospital at the age of 80.
  8. ↑ "Mrs. H. Wilks Dead At Age Of 80. Daughter Of Hetty Green, Noted For Financial Manipulations, Wed Descendant Of Astor "Accustomed To Economy" Active Until Last Year". The New York Times. February 6, 1951. Retrieved 2008-06-09. Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks of 988 Fifth Avenue, widow of Matthew Astor Wilks, and daughter of Hetty Green, the famous woman financier, died yesterday in the New York Hospital at the age of 80.
  9. ↑ "Hetty Green's Daughter Leaves $94,965,229". Los Angeles Times. September 27, 1952. Retrieved 2008-06-08. The estate of Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Howland Green Wilks, who died Feb. 5, 1951, totaled $94,965,229 gross and $90,845,301 net, according to an estate tax appraisal filed yesterday.
  10. ↑ "Hetty Green's Only Daughter, 80, Dies". Los Angeles Times. February 7, 1951. Retrieved 2008-06-08. Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilks, 80, only daughter of the wealthy Hetty Green and, in her own right, one of the world's richest women, died last night in New York Hospital.
  11. 1 2 "Mother Knew Better". Time. March 31, 1952. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  12. ↑ "Wilks Estate Is Put At 95 Millions, Third Of It In One Checking Account; Mrs. Wilks' Assets Put At 95 Millions". The New York Times. March 20, 1952. Retrieved 2008-06-09. Mrs. Hetty Sylvia Howland Green Wilks, daughter of the late Hetty Green, noted woman financier at the turn of the century, left an estate of approximately $95,000,000 according to an accounting filed in Surrogate's Court yesterday. She died Feb. 5, 1951.
  13. ↑ "Archer and Wilks". The New York Times. 1958-01-22. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
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