Helen Smythe Jaffray
Born
Helen Smythe

(1850-12-12)December 12, 1850
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 1935(1935-09-22) (aged 84)
Paris, France
Spouse
William Phillips Jaffray
​
​
(m. 1871; died 1887)​
Children3, including Helen
Parent(s)Henry A. Smythe
Mary Franklin

Helen Smythe Jaffray (November 4, 1850 – July 11, 1932)[1] was an American socialite during the Gilded Age.

Early life

Helen was born on November 4, 1850, in New York City. She was one of the "three handsome Smythe girls"[2] born to Henry A. Smythe and Mary (née Franklin) Smythe. Her father, a merchant, banker and conservative Union Republican, was a Collector of Customs in New York from 1866 to 1869 (alongside Herman Melville)[3] under President Andrew Johnson,[4] who is most well known for his impeachment in March 1867, following accusations of corruption.[5] He was later nominated for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Russia by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, but was tabled by the Senate and did not receive his commission (Andrew Gregg Curtin was appointed instead).[6] Helen's sister Fannie Smythe,[7] was the second wife of Edward Padelford, who had a home (now known as Roosevelt Hall), in Skaneateles, New York.[8][2]

Society life

In 1892, both Helen and her daughter were listed as "Mrs. William Jaffray" and "Miss Jaffray",[9] in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[10] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[11][12]

Personal life

In 1871, Helen was married to William Phillips Jaffray (1845–1887),[13] a successful New York dry goods merchant.[14][15] William was the eldest son of Edward Somerville Jaffray and an uncle to Florence Jaffray, who served as U.S. Minister to Norway and was the wife of J. Borden Harriman.[16] Florence was raised by William's parents, at 615 Fifth Avenue, as her parents both died young.[17] Together, they were the parents of:[18]

  • Mary Franklin Jaffray (1872–1962), who married her cousin Edward Woodriff Jaffray (1863–1939), the son of her grandfather's brother, Arthur Woodriff Jaffray,[18] in 1893.[8]
  • Arthur Woodriff Jaffray (1876–1919), who married actress Laura D. Shorter in 1899.[19] They divorced and he married his first cousin, Mabel Evelyn Jaffray (1880–1922), daughter of Howard S. Jaffray in 1906.[20][21]
  • Helen Frances Jaffray (1885–1929), who was popular in New York and London society and a close friend of Margaretta Armstrong Drexel, Viscountess Maidstone, the wife of the Earl of Winchilsea.[22] Helen married Harvard graduate Walter Abbott (1867–1919) in 1912.[23][24] After his death, she married J. Kingsley Rooker and lived at Mortimer House in Clifton.[25]

Her husband died in Astoria in September 1877 and his funeral was held at the Church of the Transfiguration.[13] Jaffray died on July 11, 1932, in Paris, France, where she lived at 27 rue de Longchamp.[26] She was buried in the family vault at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Cemetery.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "MRS. W. P. JAFFRAY" (PDF). The New York Times. July 12, 1932. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Cunard--Padelford" (PDF). The New York Times. February 25, 1903. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Meltzer, Milton (2004). Herman Melville: A Biography. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 113. ISBN 9780761327493. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Andrew (1991). The Papers of Andrew Johnson: September 1865-January 1866. Univ. of Tennessee Press. p. 520. ISBN 9780870496899. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  5. ↑ United States House of Representatives (1867). House Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 177. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Stewart, David O. (2010). Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy. Simon and Schuster. p. 244. ISBN 9781416547501. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1899. p. 525. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 "WEDDINGS. Jaffray—Jaffray" (PDF). The New York Times. November 16, 1893. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 218. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  10. ↑ 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 5 October 2017.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Homberger, Eric (2004). Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age. Yale University Press. pp. 199, 289n.99. ISBN 0300105150. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  13. 1 2 "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. September 7, 1887. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Mrs. William Phillips Jaffray (1850-1932)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Bradstreet's. Bradstreet Company. 1882. p. 142. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "BRIDES AND GROOMS. THE WEDDING OF MISS HURST AND MR. HARRIMAN AT ST. THOMAS'S" (PDF). The New York Times. November 14, 1889. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  17. ↑ Leavitt, Judith A. (1985). American Women Managers and Administrators: A Selective Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-century Leaders in Business, Education, and Government. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 102–03. ISBN 9780313237485. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  18. 1 2 Jaffray, Robert (1926). Jaffray Genealogy, Being An Account of a Branch of This Family Which Was Particularly Associated with Stirlingshire. Priv. Print. pp. 1881, 1899. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "WERE MARRIED IN AUGUST. Arthur W. Jaffray and Miss Laura D. Shorter Now Announce the Fact" (PDF). The New York Times. October 13, 1899. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "JAFFRAY COUSINS MARRIED. Arthur Was Once Husband of Laura D. Shorter, Formerly of Brooklyn. He Spent Fortune". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 18, 1906. p. 3. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1910. p. 312. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "Helen Frances Jaffray, third daughter of Wm Phillips Jaffray". The Galveston Daily News. March 5, 1911. p. 18. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Thayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; Pier, Arthur Stanwood; Voto, Bernard Augustine De; Morrison, Theodore (1913). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. p. 157. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "MR. WALTER ABBOTT". The Times. April 21, 1919. p. 13. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  25. ↑ The Lady's Who's Who. Pallas Publishing Company. 1938. p. 359. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  26. ↑ Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1912. p. 313. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
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