This page, clockwise from above: Isamu Noguchi and Brooke Astor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Vincent Astor, as photographed in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1930; Helen Huntington (the first wife of Vincent Astor); the Cushings at their cottage in Little Boar’s Head, New Hampshire, in 1821; Babe and William Paley with the Duchess of Windsor in 1955; the Cushing sisters: Babe, Betsey, and Minnie (the second wife of Vincent Astor).
list even had a “Mrs. Astor,” or Brooke Astor: the only “Mrs. Astor” of the time, she was among the most prominent as the widow of Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor’s grandson, Vincent Astor. But, in 1995, there were no social arbiters, by anyone’s agreement. Modern life was more complicated, including the state of modern marriage. Brooke, for example, had been Vincent’s third wife, preceded by Helen Huntington (whom he married in his early twenties). The marriage between Vincent and Helen, which lasted for 20 years, was more like the marriage of his grandmother and grandfather—except it was the wife who wanted to get away from the husband. Then there was Minnie Cushing, who became the second wife of Vincent. For about 10 years, Minnie was “the mistress” (it was not a secret) while Vincent remained married. Finally, Minnie’s mother shamed Vincent into making Minnie respectable. After a decade of marriage, it was Minnie who wanted out. She was often credited with having “found” Brooke to succeed 116 QUEST
her, as Vincent didn’t want a divorce until he had a replacement. The task wasn’t so easy, since Vincent had a heavy, lackluster, somewhat lugubrious personality and was known to be “hard to live with.” Minnie was famous as the eldest of the three sisters, daughters of the country’s first neurosurgeon: Dr. Harvey Cushing. The Cushing sisters were famous for their marriages to rich, eligible men. The youngest, Barbara Cushing (who was known as Babe) married Stanley Mortimer (heir to Standard Oil) before marrying William Paley (founder of CBS) to become Babe Paley. Babe and Minnie both died in 1978. The middle sister, Betsey Cushing, was first married to James Roosevelt, the eldest son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. They divorced after 10 years, and she married John Hay Whitney (who was known as Jock). Jock one of the richest men in the United States. His grandfather, William C. Whitney, could have been among the “Swells” in the days of Mrs. Astor, as part of his self-made fortune was the result of in-
vestments in the early days of motorized public transportation in New York. Also, he served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of president Grover Cleveland. William was a New Englander, hailing from the little town of Conway, Massachusetts. His New York connection was his Yale schoolmate Oliver Payne, who was an early “partner” of John D. Rockefeller. William married Oliver’s sister, Flora Payne. A later feud developed between the two men after Flora died at an early age and William took up with Edith Randolph, who had been a mistress of J. Pierpont Morgan. This created a schism between William and Oliver that remained to the end of their lives, with Oliver offering William children his great fortune in his will—if they would separate themselves from their father. One of William’s sons, Harry Payne Whitney, sided with his father. His other son, William Payne Whitney (who was known as Payne) sided with his uncle, Oliver. Payne thus inherited his uncle’s fortune, which was larger than his father’s fortune.