Adele Livingston Sampson

Adele Livingston de Talleyrand-Périgord, Marquise de Talleyrand, Duchess de Dino (née Sampson; formerly Stevens) (August 23, 1841 – July 19, 1912) was an American heiress and philanthropist, known for her two marriages.

Early life and education

Further information: Livingston family

Adele was born in New York City on August 23, 1841. She was the only child of Joseph Sampson (1793–1872) and Adele Sampson (née Livingston) Sampson of the prominent American Livingston family). Her father was a merchant and co-founder of the Chemical Bank, the precursor to JPMorgan Chase.[1]

Her paternal grandparents were the Rev. Ezra Sampson and Mary (née Bourne) Sampson. Her maternal grandparents were Julia Adel (née Broome) Livingston, a daughter of John Broome, who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1804 to 1810, and John Walter Livingston (a great-grandson of Philip Livingston). Her aunt, Julia Livingston, was the wife of the Rev. Henry Philip Tappan.[1]

Society life

As a member of the prominent Livingston family that married into the Stevens family before marrying into the French House of Talleyrand-Périgord, Adele was known in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island.[2] After her first marriage, she lived in a $2,000,000 mansion at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue (which was later sold to William C. Whitney).[2] In Newport, they had a home on Bellevue Avenue called "The Cedars".[1] During her lifetime, she devoted much of her means to charities in New York and in Paris.[2]

After her marriage, she continued to expand her estate and bought real estate in New York.[3][4]

Personal life

On October 8, 1862, Adele was married to prominent lawyer and banker Frederic William Stevens (1839–1928) in New York City.[5] He was a son of merchant Byam Kerby Stevens Sr. (son of Maj.-Gen. Ebenezer Stevens) and Frances Gallatin Stevens (a daughter of Albert Gallatin, the 4th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France).[6] Before their legal separation in 1886 and then divorce, they were the parents of:

• Adele Livingston "Daisy" Stevens (1864–1939), who married lawyer Frederick Hobbes Allen,[7] son of U.S. Representative Elisha Hunt Allen (and the U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii),[8] and the grandson of U.S. Senator Samuel Clesson Allen.[9]
• Joseph Sampson Stevens (1865–1935), an original Rough Rider who married Clara Harriet (née Sherwood) Rollins, widow of Edward Rollins and daughter of William Sherwood of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1889.
• Frances Gallatin Stevens (1868–1956), who married the Count de Gallifet, and later, Count Maurice des Monstiers-Mérinville.[10]
• Mabel Ledyard Stevens (1872–1959), who married Polish nobleman Count Micislas Leon Orlowski.[11][12]

Around 1875, Adele met French aristocrat, soldier, and author Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who was then married to fellow American heiress Elizabeth Beers-Curtis, with whom he had a daughter, Marie Palma de Talleyrand-Périgord (who later married Mario Ruspoli, 2nd Prince of Poggio Suasa). Maurice was the son of Alexandre de Talleyrand-Périgord, who was styled 3rd Duke of Dino, 1st Marquis de Talleyrand, and Valentine de Sainte-Aldegonde. When he returned to Paris, Adele took two of her daughters and went abroad, returning to America in 1882 to seek a divorce, finally obtaining a decree on the grounds of non-support and desertion. Meanwhile, Maurice obtained a divorce from Elizabeth and joined Adele in Paris.[2]

Second marriage

In what was described as a shock to society, Adele and Maurice married in Paris at the American Church in the Rue de Berri on 25 January 1887.[13] When Maurice became the 4th Duke of Dino, 2nd Marquis de Talleyrand, she became the Duchess of Dino.[14] The "happiness of Mrs. Stevens and the Duc de Dino, however, was only ephemeral, and on April 2, 1903, the first chamber of the Paris Civil Courts pronounced a divorce in favor of the Duchess, the Duc having no presentation in Court."[2][15]

Adele died at her home, 19 Rue Roynouard, Paris, on July 19, 1912. Her body was returned to New York and she was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[2] Her second husband died at the Villa Périgord in Monte Carlo on 5 January 1917.[16] Her first husband, who married Alice Caroline Seely of St John, New Brunswick in 1904, died in New York in 1928.[17][18]

References

1. Semans, Barbara Broome (2009). John Broome and Rebecca Lloyd Vol. I: Their Descendants and Related Families 18Th to 21St Centuries. Xlibris Corporation. p. 558. ISBN 9781462811137. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
2. "DUCHESS DE DINO IS DEAD IN PARIS; Former Wife of F.W. Stevens Was Once Prominent in New York and Newport Society". The New York Times. 20 July 1912. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
3. "IN THE REAL ESTATE FIELD; A WALL STREET PURCHASE BY THE DUCHESS DE DINO. Large Attendance at the Sale by George R. Read of the Property of the Late Abner Bartlett". The New York Times. 25 January 1895. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
4. "THE REAL ESTATE FIELD; Several Notable Sales Made by the Brokers. A WILLIAM STREET CORNER BOUGHT Mr.J.M. Levy Buys the Piece of Property for $308,000 from, the Duchess of Dino -- A Mortgage for $1,000,000". The New York Times. 29 November 1894. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
5. "THE STEVENS AFFAIR.; ITS CULMINATION CREATES A SENSATION IN NEWPORT". The New York Times. January 28, 1887. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
6. Winship, Kihm (30 October 2009). "The Livingstons of Skaneateles". kihm6.wordpress.com. Skaneateles. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
7. "COL. F. H. ALLEN, 79, DEAD AT NEWPORT; Former Pelham Manor Mayor Honored by Many Nations for World War Work LAWYER AND ECONOMIST Member of Group Organizing Lafayette Escadrille--Served With Colonel House Once in Diplomatic Service Received Honors Abroad". The New York Times. 4 December 1937. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
8. "ALLEN, Elisha Hunt - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
9. "ALLEN, Samuel Clesson - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
10. Americans Abroad | Paris Correspondence. National Courier, Vol. 4, Issue 6. 1914. p. 17. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
11. "MABEL STEVENS'S MARRIAGE.; GOWNS SHE HAS TO WEAR AND THE SPEECH THE MAYOR MADE". The New York Times. 29 December 1891. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
12. "DUCHESS DE DINO'S WEDDING". The New York Times. 17 December 1891. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
13. "MARRIED TO HER MARQUIS; THE FINAL ACT IN A STRANGE LIFE STORY. THE FORMER MRS. ADELE LIVINGSTON STEVENS NOW THE WIFE OF THE MARQUIS DE TALLEYRAND PERIGORD. PARIS" (PDF). The New York Times. January 26, 1887. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
14. de La Caillemotte de Massue de Ruvigny Ruvigny and Raineval (9th marquis of), Melville Amadeus Henry Douglas Heddle (1914). The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who", of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Harrison & Sons. p. 581. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
15. "DUKE AND DUCHESS PART; Separation Procured from M. de Dino by His American Wife. Both Had Been Divorced from Former Partners -- Another Chapter to a Complicated International Romance". The New York Times. 4 April 1903. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
16. "DUKE DE DINO DEAD | Twice Married American Women, Both of Whom Divorced Him". Evening Star. January 7, 1917. p. 48. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
17. "FREDERIC STEVENS, BANKER DIES AT 88; His 56 Years on Board of the Chemical National Called a Record for Country. YALE'S SECOND OLDEST SON One Grandfather a Secretary of the Treasury, Another a Member of Boston Tea Party". The New York Times. 21 January 1928. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
18. "F.W. STEVENS LEFT $801,679; Retired Banker Willed Most of Estate to Widow and Daughter. Mrs. Armour Left $656,998". The New York Times. 27 November 1928. Retrieved 29 October 2021.