Guide to the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe letters to Sarah Griswold Spencer, 1882-1886


The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847-1000
museumaffairs@newportmansions.org

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title: Catharine Lorillard Wolfe letters to Sarah Griswold Spencer
Date range: 1882-1886
Creator: Wolfe, Catharine Lorillard, 1828-1887
Extent: 5 folders
Abstract: Letters written by Catharine Lorillard Wolfe in New York or Newport to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris, France.
Language of materials: English
Repository: The Preservation Society of Newport County
Collection number: PSNCA.H.014

Scope & content

This collection includes Catharine Lorillard Wolfe’s side of the correspondence between her and Sarah Griswold Spencer. As there are only a handful of letters across a five-year period, it is not known whether there are additional letters now missing from either correspondent. In the extant letters, Wolfe discusses family developments, including the wedding of Spencer’s son Lorillard; Wolfe’s new home, Vinland, in Newport; and Wolfe’s request for Spencer to commission clothing for her at the House of Worth.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Organizations Subject Topics Document Types

Arrangement

Photographs are arranged in one series chronologically and inventoried at the item level.

Biographical and Historical Information

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (1828-1887) was an art collector and philanthropist, a chief benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. After inheriting a large fortune from her father, merchant John David Wolfe, she participated heavily in charitable giving both in secular and religious organizations. Her mother was Dorothea Ann Lorillard (1798-1866), daughter of Peter Lorillard II (1764-1943), a wealthy magnate with interests in tobacco, real estate, and other industries. At Catharine Wolfe’s death, obituaries claimed she was the richest unmarried woman in the United States, or even in the world. She maintained an extensive collection of art and rare books. She resided in New York and summered in Newport, Rhode Island, building the mansion “Vinland” on Ochre Point Avenue.

Wolfe’s first cousin Lorillard Spencer was the father of another Lorillard Spencer (1827-1888), the husband of Sarah Johnson Griswold (1827-1905). Spencer and Griswold married in 1847 and had at least five children: Eleanore Spencer (1851-1915), Sarah Griswold Spencer (1853-1854), William Augustus Spencer (1855-1912), Charles G. Spencer (1856-1906), and Lorillard Spencer, Jr. (1859-1912). The family lived in Paris for many years, first moving overseas in 1858.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: The collection is open to the public, and there are no restrictions on access. However, the collection can only be seen by scheduled appointment.
Use of the materials: All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the PSNC Archives and Special Collections are requested to contact the archivist, prior to reproducting, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although the Preservation Society has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim copyright ownership. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the copyright and to obtain any necessary permission from them.
Preferred citation: "Courtesy of the Preservation Society of Newport County."
Contact information: The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847-1000
museumaffairs@newportmansions.org

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Accruals:
Processing information:
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Genna Duplisea, Archivist, 9 July 2024.
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material: The Preservation Society holds two scrapbooks of clippings and ephemera related to Wolfe's Vinland estate.
Bibliography:
  • “Catharine Lorillard Wolfe: Death of a Woman Distinguished for Her Wealth and Charities,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY),

    5 April 1887

    , p. 1.
  • “American Summary,” Auckland Star (Auckland, New Zealand),

    30 April 1887

    , p. 5.
  • “Obituary: Miss Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, America’s Richest Unmarried Woman,” The Indianapolis Journal,

    5 April 1887

    , p. 3.
  • Bennett, James Gordon, Jr., “The Late Lorillard Spencer,” New York Herald Cable Service, printed in San Francisco Examiner,

    3 February 3 1888

    , p. 2.
  • “Mrs. Lorillard Spencer Dead,” Hartford Courant,

    4 March 1905

    , p. 1. 
    		•

    Inventory

    Box 1, Folder 1 Catherine Lorillard Wolfe in New York to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris
    		 4 October 1882
    Box 1, Folder 2 Catherine Lorillard Wolfe in New York to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris
    		 5 May 1884
    Box 1, Folder 3 Catherine Lorillard Wolfe in New York to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris
    		 16 May 1884
    Box 1, Folder 4 Catherine Lorillard Wolfe in Newport to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris
    		 21 July 1885
    Box 1, Folder 5 Envelope to Sarah Griswold Spencer in Paris
    		 20 September 1886