Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb

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Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb
File:Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb.jpg
Born 1860
Died 1936
Residence Shelburne, Vermont
Palm Beach, Florida
Nationality American
Education Miss Porter’s School
Occupation Socialite
Spouse(s) William Seward Webb
Children Frederica Vanderbilt Webb
James Watson Webb, Sr.
William Seward Webb, Jr.
Vanderbilt Webb
Parent(s) William Henry Vanderbilt
Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt

Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb, a.k.a. Lila Vanderbilt Webb, (1860–1936) was an American heiress.[1][2]

Biography

Early life

She was the youngest daughter and seventh child of William Henry Vanderbilt (1821–1885) and Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt.[1] Her grandfather was Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877).[2] Her siblings were Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843–1899), Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard (1843–1924), William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849–1920), Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856–1938), Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly (1854–1952), Emily Thorn Vanderbilt (1852–1946) and George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862–1914).[2] She attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut.[1]

Houses

With her US$10 million inheritance, she bought and developed Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont in 1899.[1][3] She planned meals, hired servants, hosted guests, and took care of the interior decorating and garden design.[1] She entertained at Shelburne Farms until her death in 1936.[1] During his 1909 visit to Shelburne Farms, President William Howard Taft said her husband was absent because he was drunk.[2]

In 1923, she built a house on Dunbar Road in Palm Beach, Florida.[2] Later, she built another house in Gulf Stream, Florida.[2]

Personal life

In 1881, she married William Seward Webb (1851–1926), and they had four children: Frederica Vanderbilt Webb, James Watson Webb, Sr., William Seward Webb, Jr. (1884–1960), and Vanderbilt Webb.[1]

She enjoyed playing golf, contract bridge, gardening, traveling and reading.[1] She was one of the first female members of the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida.[2]

She died in 1936.[2]

References

  • Robert W. Ganger, Lila Vanderbilt Webb's Miradero: window on an era (2005).[4]