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Bertha Perry Ronalds

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Bertha Perry Ronalds
Born
Bertha Constance Perry

(1874-11-27)November 27, 1874
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1963(1963-02-03) (aged 88)
San Mateo, California, U.S.
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1895; died 1928)​
Parent(s)William Alfred Perry
Emma Constance Frink
RelativesWilliam Haggin Perry (nephew)
Fanny Ronalds (mother-in-law)

Bertha Constance Perry Ronalds (November 27, 1874 – February 3, 1963) was an American philanthropist and socialite during the Gilded Age.[1]

Early life

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Bertha was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 27, 1874. She was the daughter of William Alfred Perry (1835–1916)[2] and Emma Constance (née Frink) Perry (born 1848).[3] Her brother was Henry Pierrepont Perry, who lived in the Bahamas and was married three times.[4] His first marriage was to Edith Lounsberry (granddaughter of James Ben Ali Haggin), with whom he had William Haggin Perry,[5] after their divorce, he married for the second time to Mary Ridgeley Sands, the former wife of Lorillard S. Spencer, and following her death, he married thirdly to Brenda Williams-Taylor, the daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor and mother of debutante Brenda Frazier.[6]

Her father, a graduate of Columbia College who was associated with the manufacture of steam pumps, was the son of Joseph Alfred Perry and Emily Constable (née Pierrepont) Perry (the daughter of Hezekiah Pierrepont).[7] Through her father, she was a descendant of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, known as the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.[6] Her maternal grandparents were Samuel Edgar Frink and Emma Virginia (née Wood) Frink.[3]

Society life

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In 1892, Bertha and her widowed mother 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.[8][9] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[10] She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[11]

In December 1896, social arbiter Harry Lehr wrote in his diary that he "lunched with Bertha and Larry Ronalds, who is still boasting of being natural son of Napoleon III."[12] Her husband's parents had separated and her mother-in-law Fanny, was known for her association with Empress Eugénie, Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra.[13][14] and many affairs with prominent men, including Leonard Jerome (Winston Churchill's grandfather) and the composer Arthur Sullivan. In Paris, where they lived for many years, the Ronalds were social acquaintances of Henry Adams, who in a 1908 letter to Elizabeth Cameron, referred to Bertha as "the rattling little nez-retroussé type of latent ambition and self-conscious self-distrust under self-assertion."[15]

Philanthropy and work

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Ronalds was a noted, although often anonymous, benefactress to many charities, including the San Mateo Home for Retarded Children and Adults.[6]

Personal life

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On June 26, 1895, Bertha was married to Pierre Lorillard Ronalds Jr. (1864–1928)[16] at Ridgelawn in Bay Ridge on Long Island.[17] Her bridesmaids were Mamie Field and Juliana Cutting and his ushers were James F. D. Lanier, Whitney Warren, H. Whitney McVickar, Eliot Gregory, J. Wadsworth Ritchie, F. L. Holbrook Betts, H. Pierrepont Perry and Herbert D. Robins.[17] Ronalds, a hardware fixtures manufacturer with Ronalds & Johnson who was the son of Pierre Ronalds Sr. and Fanny Ronalds,[13][18] and great-grandson of tobacco magnate Pierre Lorillard II.[15]

Her husband died in February 1928, leaving an estate worth more than $1,000,000, the bulk of which she inherited.[19] After returning from living in Paris, Ronalds owned a ranch in Oregon where she raised Tennessee walking horses, Arabians and Shetland ponies[1] (and which was turned into a Guest ranch known as "Metolius Meadows")[20][21] and then lived in San Mateo, California for twenty-six years at 40 Crystal Springs Road. She died there at her home on February 3, 1963.[1] Ronalds was interred at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California after a funeral that was officiated by the Rev. Leslie Wilder of the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bertha Ronalds Dies at 89". The San Francisco Examiner. 4 Feb 1963. p. 28. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  2. ^ "DIED | PERRY" (PDF). The New York Times. February 18, 1916. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b Moffat, R. Burnham (1913). Pierrepont Genealogies from Norman Times to 1913. Priv. print. [L. Middleditch Company]. p. 92. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ "BRENDA FRAZIER'S MOTHER TO MARRY | Henry Pierrepont Perry Will Be Her Third Husband". Toledo Blade. August 1, 1942. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Mrs. H. P. Perry Operated On" (PDF). The New York Times. August 28, 1913. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Naval Hero's Kin Dies". The Times (San Mateo, California). February 4, 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  7. ^ The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York | Year Book for 1915-1916. General Society of Colonial Wars (U.S.) New York. August 1916. p. 92. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 217. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Revolution, Daughters of the American (1898). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. p. 12. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  12. ^ Beresford, Elizabeth (2005). King Lehr. Applewood Books. p. 321. ISBN 9781557099631. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Mrs. Ronalds Dies in Her London Home", The New York Times, July 31, 1916, p. 5
  14. ^ The Times, August 3, 1916, p. 9
  15. ^ a b Adams, Henry; Levenson, Jacob C.; Samuels, Ernest; Vandersee, Charles (1982). The Letters of Henry Adams. Harvard University Press. p. 148. ISBN 9780674526860. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  16. ^ "PIERRE L. RONALDS DEAD.; Member of Knickerbocker Club Dies at His Paris Residence" (PDF). The New York Times. February 20, 1928. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Ronalds -- Perry" (PDF). The New York Times. June 27, 1895. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  18. ^ Supreme Court Case On Appeal. 1929. p. 142. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  19. ^ "RONALDS ESTATE $1,000,000; Widow of Plumbing Supply Dealer Gets Bulk of Fortune" (PDF). The New York Times. February 29, 1928. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  20. ^ "History - Lake Creek Lodge". www.lakecreeklodge.com. Lake Creek Lodge. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Horse Ranch Turned Into Guest Ranch". Statesman Journal. June 26, 1960. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
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