Isabelle Gebhard Neilson

Mary Isabelle Gebhard Neilson (May 29, 1857 – May 14, 1928) Her brother, Frederick Gebhard was known for his relationship with Lillie Langtry, a society beauty previously known for her affair with Edward, Prince of Wales. Another brother, Henry Gebhard Jr. died in 1871, aged 10, of scarlet fever.

Gebhard's paternal grandfather had come from Holland to New York in 1800. He worked as an agent for a Dutch company, eventually starting a business importing gin. Between 1830 and 1832, he adopted three children (all siblings), (The three children were Frederick Charles Bruce (1825–1865), William Henry Bruce (1827–1905) and Mary Elizabeth Bruce (1830–1883).)

Inheritance Her maternal grandfather, Thomas E. Davis, was a wealthy New York property developer who made provisions in his will for Isabelle and her brother to receive incomes from his estate until they were 30, at which time the title of the investment would be transferred to them. In 1893, her brother took legal action on behalf of himself and her to enforce this clause. Their grandfather's estate included properties in New York City. They were each entitled to 1/24th part of this estate plus a part of their aunt Nora's share due to her death in 1874.

Her brother Frederick found himself in reduced circumstances, eventually starting an unsuccessful venture selling fine wines, and needed to borrow money from Isabel. She eventually took court action against him to recover the money (over $65,000).

Society life Isabelle and her brother inherited wealth, and the family mansion, from the estates of their parents and their grandfather. They were well connected in New York society, being related to many of the old and wealthy American families including Vanderbilt, Stuyvesant, Livingston, Remsen, Neilson, Hunter, Delafleld, Lawrence, Wells and Leverich. Her granduncle was Father John Power, Vicar General of New York; another uncle was John F. A. Sanford, the frontiersman, who via his first marriage had family links to the Pierre Chouteau family of St Louis.

In 1892, the widowed Neilson was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. According to her obituary in The New York Times, "Mrs. Neilson was noted for her originality. Many years ago, she was the first woman to wear unmatched earrings. She appeared in Newport with a diamond in one ear, and a pearl in the other, and established a vogue for this type of ornamentation." that was later occupied by Harry Lehr and his wife, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel.

Personal life In 1873, Isabelle was married to the "strikingly handsome" Frederick William Hude Neilson (1849–1887). Frederick was the son of William Hude Neilson and Caroline Kane (née Mills) Neilson. His first cousin, Edith (née May) Randolph, who married Henry Cooke Cushing III in 1923. After their divorce in 1932, she married Lawrence Wise Lowman in 1932. They divorced that same year and in 1940, she married for the third and final time to Martin Arostegui.