James J. Van Alen

James John Van Alen (March 20, 1848 – July 13, 1923) was an American socialite. He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy on October 20, 1893, but declined the appointment. He was well known as a New York Society leader and was referred to as the "American Prince of Wales."

Early life Van Alen was the son of James Henry Van Alen (1819–1886), who served as a Brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and Mary Young Steward (1818–1852). He attended and graduated from Oxford University. but declined the appointment, He was also rumored to have been appointed the United States Ambassador to Great Britain under President Cleveland.

In 1919, he sold his house at 15 East 65th Street in Manhattan, to Rufus L. Patterson Jr., due to his opposition to Prohibition. He then lived abroad, spending most of his time at a villa in Cannes, France, from February 1920 until his death.

Personal life

In 1876, he married Emily Astor (1854–1881), the eldest daughter of William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (1829–1892) and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn (1830–1908). Together, James and Emily had three children: Mary Van Alen (1876–1959), who married Griswold A. Thompson (1875–1945) in 1913. James Laurens Van Alen (1878–1927), who married Margaret "Daisy" Louise Post (1876–1969) in 1900 Sarah Steward Van Alen (1881–1963), who married Robert Joseph Collier (1876–1918) in 1902.

His wife died in 1881, only 5 years after they were wed.

Van Alen died in 1923 while in London. His entire estate was estimated at $20,000,000 . After his property and stock was given to his son, and taxes were paid, the residual estate was valued at $2,061,617 . His will provided trust funds of $500,000 each for his daughters, Mary and Sarah, the principal to go to their descendants. His son, James, received all real estate, property, and life estate in the residue and his grandson, James H. Van Alen, a surviving life estate. An additional trust of $12,000 was set aside for a friend, Mary M. Griffith. Rushton was the ancestral home of the Tresham family. The estate is about of which are formal gardens. The River Ise flows from west to east south of the Hall.

Van Alen's father had a home in Newport, Rhode Island, called "The Grange" and lived there year-round. In 1887, seven years after his wife's death in 1881, Van Alen's father gave him the land and he commissioned American architect Dudley Newton to build a replica of Wakehurst Place in Newport from plans designed by Charles Eamer Kempe. When completed the home had cost Van Alen some $750,000 .

Descendants His two daughters did not have children, however his son, James Laurens Van Alen, had three children. James' eldest child was James Henry "Jimmy" Van Alen II (1902–1991), the founder of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, who married Eleanor Langley. His second born was William Laurens Van Alen (1907–2003), founding president of the United States Court Tennis Association, who married Elizabeth Brinton Kent, daughter of Arthur Atwater Kent, in 1931. His youngest, and only daughter was Louise Astor Van Alen (1910–1998). Louise was married three times, first in 1931 to Prince Alexei Mdivani (1905–1936). They divorced in 1932 when Mdivani left her to marry Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. In 1936, after Alexei's death, she married Prince Sergei Mdivani (1903–1936), her first husband's older brother. Sergei tragically died later that year in a polo accident. In 1947, she married for the third and final time, to Alexander Saunderson (1917–2004), grandson of Edward J. Saunderson (1837–1906), an MP and Lord Lieutenant of Cavan.