The Death of Mrs. Iselin
The Baltimore Sun, November 29, 1897, page 7.
DEATH OF MRS. ISELIN
Daughter Of Gen., Columbus O'Donnell And Wife Of The New York Banker.
SHE WAS BORN IN BALTIMORE
For Many Years A Metropolitan Society Leader.
Her Fortune Was Used In Many Charities -- Large Gifts To the Catholic Church And To The Town Of New Rochelle -- Her Baltimore Relatives And Ancestry.
Mrs. Eleanora O'Donnell Iselin, wife of Adrian Iselin, the New York banker, and a daughter of the late Gen. Columbus O'Donnell, of Baltimore, died Saturday night at the city home of the Iselins, 23 East Twenty-sixth street, New York. She had been ill for several weeks, but last week was thought to be improving.
Mrs. Iselin was born in Baltimore seventy-seven years ago and was married to Mr. Iselin in the Baltimore Cathedral, December 11, 1845. Her husband has been a prominent citizen of New York during the entire period of their married life. He at the head of the well-known Wall street banking house of A. Iselin & Sons, one of the richest institutions of its kind in America. He is of Swiss extraction and represented his native land as consul in the metropolis for a long period.
For many years Mrs. Iselin was, with Mrs. Astor and Mrs. August Belmont, one of the three acknowledged leaders of New York society. Although domestic in her tastes, she felt it necessary, especially during the youth of her many children, to entertain largely and to mingle in the gaieties of recurring winter seasons. She was a tall and handsome woman, exceedingly dignified in manner, and was in appearance and bearing a typical grande dame.
The founder of the O'Donnell family in Baltimore was Capt. John O'Donnell, who, in 1785, sailed into the port of Baltimore with the first cargo of merchandise ever brought from China. Captain O'Donnell had come from Canton, and after he had settled in Baltimore and become an active merchant, he named the suburb of Baltimore known as Canton after the Chinese city. His name was given to O'Donnell street in Canton. He died in 1805, aged fifty-six years, after carrying on a large trade with the East Indies.
The father of Mrs. Iselin was Gen. Columbus O'Donnell, who died in 1873, in his eightieth year. He was identified with many financial interests of the city, was president of the First National Bank, a director in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Union Bank, president of the Baltimore Gaslight Company for thirty years and president of the Baltimore Water Company until the city acquired a monopoly of the water supply.
Mrs. Thomas Lee, mother of Mr. Columbus O'Donnell Lee, is a sister of Mrs. Iselin. Another sister was the late Mrs. Solomon Hillen, whose daughter is the wife of Mr. Richard M. McSherry. Mr. C. Oliver O'Donnell, who died in 1877, was a brother. Mrs. Columbus O'Donnell and her son. Col. Columbus O'Donnell, are also related to Mrs. Iselin. Ex-Gov. John Lee Carroll Is likewise a connection.
The surviving children of Mrs. Iselin are seven in number, four sons and three daughters. The daughters are Mrs. Delancey Astor Kane, formerly Miss Eleanora Iselin, and Misses Georgie and Emily Iselin. The sons are Adrian Iselin, Jr., William E., Columbus O'Donnell and O. Oliver Iselin. The last-named became famous as the builder of the yacht Defender to retain the America cup. William E. Iselin is a prominent metropolitan wholesale dry goods merchant. The others are with their father in the banking firm. There are twenty grandchildren.
The principal home of the family for more than twenty-five years has been on Long Island sound, at New Rochelle, where each of the children has a beautiful country seat. Mr. and Mrs. Iselin's home is known as Souci; C. Oliver Iselin is the owner of All View, on Premium Point; Mr. and Mrs. Kane own the Paddocks and William E. Iselin has Quaker Ridge farm, where he keeps a celebrated pack of English and German beagles. These estates have private piers, surrounded by costly artificial sea walls, and the yachts Defender and Helvetia are anchored near by.
Mrs. Iselin was a woman of ample fortune. A devout Catholic, she built and endowed St. Gabriel's Church, in New Rochelle, one of the most picturesque edifices in the vicinity of the metropolis. It cost $150,000. The architecture is of the Anglo-Roman type, and a notable feature is the tower, with a chime of bells. The chancel is a reproduction of that of San Marco, Venice. One of the windows is a representation of the espousal of Joseph and the Virgin, given by Mrs. Iselin's children on the occasion of their mother's golden wedding anniversary in 1893.
Another gift was made last summer, when the family transferred its handsome gymnasium property to the parish for a school for children. She also gave the town of New Rochelle a gymnasium, library and lecture hall, and, with other members of her family, has been a large contributor to and a warm supporter of St. Leo's Catholic Church, in New York, over which Father Ducey presides. A fine residence near New York, owned by Columbus O'Donnell Iselin, was also transferred to the church by its owner for a nominal sum, and was recently opened for an academy by the Ursuline Nuns. The family has intermarried largely with communicants of the Episcopal Church, and, although the gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Iselin have been most numerous to the Roman Catholic Church, they have always been liberal in their assistance of other denominations and have given largely to worthy Institutions and families in need.
Death of Mrs. Iselin, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, November 29, 1897, page 7.PDF, JPEG, Text.