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Julia Cruger

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Julia Cruger
Watercolor portrait of Mrs. S.V.R. Cruger by Fernand Paillet, 1893
Born
Julia Grinnell Storrow

(1848-07-19)July 19, 1848
Paris, France
DiedJuly 12, 1920(1920-07-12) (aged 71)
New York City
Resting placeSleepy Hollow Cemetery
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1868; died 1898)​

Wade Chance
​
​
(m. 1908; div. 1916)​
ParentThomas Wentworth Storrow
RelativesWashington Irving (grand-uncle)

Julia Grinnell Storrow Cruger (pseudonym: Julien Gordon; July 19, 1848 – July 12, 1920) was an American novelist. Because many of her books examined the American social world, she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.

Family

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Julia Grinnell Storrow was born in Paris, France, in 1848. She was the daughter of Thomas Wentworth Storrow Jr. (1805–1861) of Boston and Sarah Sanders (née Paris) Storrow (1813–1885).[1] Her elder sister, Katherine Paris Storrow, was the wife of banker Francis McNiel Bacon.[2]

Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Wentworth Storrow and Sarah Phipps (née Brown) Storrow.[3] His maternal grandparents were attorney John Daniel Paris and Catherine (née Irving) Paris, sister to Washington Irving (making Julia a grandniece of Washington Iriving).[4]

Career

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In 1892, Cruger and her husband were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[5] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[6]

Her first book was A Diplomat's Diary (1890); it and the next three novels all appeared first in serial form.[1] Many of her novels closely examined the social world of New York and Washington, D.C., and she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.[4][7]

Personal life

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On April 21, 1868, she married Col. Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger in Trinity Chapel in New York City. A Civil War veteran, he was a grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer.[8] Following her husband's death in 1898, Julia inherited his fortune, leaving her independently well off.[9][7]

On May 11, 1908, she married broker Wade Chance of Canton, Ohio, and London, who was fifteen years her junior, at her home in Washington, D.C.[10][11] The couple, however, separated after a year,[12] and were divorced in 1916.[13][7][14][a] Cruger, who spoke French fluently, then moved to Paris for several years living at 5 Rue du Général-Lambert and Avenue de Suffren,[11] returning to New York not long before her death.[4] As both of her daughters from her first marriage died young, her estate was inherited by her nephew, Wentworth Cruger Bacon.[15][16]

Selected works

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  • A Diplomat's Diary (1890)
  • Vampires: Mademoiselle Réséda (1891)
  • A Successful Man (1891)
  • A Puritan Pagan (1891)
  • Marionettes (1892)
  • His Letters (1892)
  • Poppaea (1895)
  • A Wedding and Other Stories (1896)
  • Eat Not Thy Heart (1897)
  • Mrs. Clyde: The Story of a Social Career (1901)
  • The Wage of Character: A Social Study (1901)

Notes

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  1. ^ In 1915, her estranged husband Wade Chance, by then of New York, Newport, Pasadena, and London was said to be a friend of the Earl Kitchener.[11]

References

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Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ a b Willard, Frances E. & Livermore, Mary A. (eds.) A Woman of the Century, p. 218 (1893).
  2. ^ Baldwin, Thomas Williams (1915). Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and His Descendants. Higginson Book Company. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-8328-3011-2. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Storrow Family Papers, 1762-1999". www.masshist.org. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c (13 July 1920). Mrs. Julia Cruger, Once Famous As Author, Dies Here, New York Tribune, p. 11
  5. ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  6. ^ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  7. ^ a b c (13 July 1920). Mrs. Cruger, Novelist Julien Gordon, Dies: Widow of Col. S. Van. R. Cruger and ex-wife of Wade Chance, Wrote "Vampires", The New York Times
  8. ^ Ancestry.com, U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930 for Julia G Storrow, retrieved 13 November 2024.
  9. ^ (24 June 1898). Death of S.V.R. Cruger, The New York Times
  10. ^ Special to The New York Times. (May 12, 1908). "MRS. S.V.R. CRUGER WEDS.; Novelist Becomes the Bride of Wade Chance, Fifteen Years Her Junior". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Special to The New York Times. (Nov 22, 1915). "WADE CHANCE SUES AGAIN.; Brings Third Divorce Action Against Former Mrs. Cruger". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  12. ^ Special to The New York Times. (Oct 27, 1910). "WADE CHANCE SEEKS DIVORCE; Complaint Against Wife, Who Was Mrs. Van Rensselaer Cruger, Is Sealed". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  13. ^ Special to The New York Times. (March 23, 1916). "CHANCE IN DIVORCE COURT.; Friend of Kitchener Says He and Novelist-Wife Disagreed". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  14. ^ (13 July 1920). Mrs. J. G. Cruger, Kin of Washington Irving, Dies, Chicago Tribune
  15. ^ "SOCIAL NOTES. | New York". The New York Times. April 20, 1920. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  16. ^ "MRS. CARPENTER MARRIED.; Becomes Bride of W.C. Bacon in a Quiet Ceremony". The New York Times. Feb 15, 1929. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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