Biography of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies 1868-1944

Rev. John Whitney

President of Georgetown University

My dear Fr. Whitney

I write with regard to the picture of Mrs Dahlgren, now hanging in one of the front drawing rooms. It was my intention, had this painting been a success, to present it to the College. Both Mrs Dahlgren and I [John Vinton Dahlgren], however, are not pleased with it, and have decided not to part with it. It was sent to the College entirely on the responsibility of the artist, who did so without consulting me. I will feel under obligation to you if you will have it boxed up, and stored in some room in the College until I return to N.Y. when I would like it expressed to me. Whatever this may cost the College pray let me know, and I will take pleasure in paying the…'

Before 1866 [her father] Joseph William Drexel (age 32) and [her mother] Lucy Wharton (age 24) were married.

On 22nd April 1868 Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies was born to Joseph William Drexel (age 35) and Lucy Wharton (age 27).

On 25th March 1888 [her father] Joseph William Drexel (age 55) died.

On 29th June 1889 John Vinton Dahlgren (age 21) and Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 21) were married at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Manhattan.

After 1898. Adolfo Müller-Ury (age 35). Portrait of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 29).

Jan 27/98.

My dear Fr. Richards:

Last summer you suggested to me that the University would like to possess a Portrait of Mrs Dahlgren (age 29). If your Board of Director[s are possessed of] the same mind I will present to it such a work by one of the most distinguished artists in the country. I speak of Mr Muller Ury. The character of the picture will be such as will befit the dignity of an institution of learning.

Some days since I saw Mr Thoarms of Hess & Co, and directed him when next in Washington to visit the Chapel, and determine upon the proper decorations of the walls. Trusting that this order will meet with your approval I am as ever your sincere friend

[her husband] John Vinton Dahlgren (age 29).

On 11th August 1899 [her husband] John Vinton Dahlgren (age 31) died of tuberculosis. His funeral was held on 18th August 1899, in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University's Dahlgren Chapel, which had been constructed six years earlier as a memorial to the death of Dahlgren's infant son, Joseph.

In June 1901 Henry Symes Lehr (age 32) and Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 33) were married at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Manhattan.

1905. Giovanni Boldini (age 62). Portrait of Mrs Henry Lehr aka Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 36).

On 7th February 1911 [her future husband] John Beresford 5th Baron Decies (age 44) and Helen Vivien Gould Baroness Decies (age 17) were married. She by marriage Baroness Decies of Decies in Waterford. The difference in their ages was 26 years.

In 1912 [her mother] Lucy Wharton (age 71) died.

On 3rd January 1929 [her husband] Henry Symes Lehr (age 59) died of a brain malady at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

In 1935 Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 66) published "King Lehr" and the Gilded Age.

On 25th May 1936 John Beresford 5th Baron Decies (age 69) and Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 68) were married. She by marriage Baroness Decies of Decies in Waterford.

In 1937 Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 68) published Turn of the World.

In 1942 [her husband] John Beresford 5th Baron Decies (age 75) requested a divorce from his wife Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 73).

On 31st January 1944 [her husband] John Beresford 5th Baron Decies (age 77) died. His son [her step-son] Arthur (age 28) succeeded 6th Baron Decies of Decies in Waterford.

On 13th June 1944 Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Baroness Decies (age 76) died at the Shelton Hotel, Manhattan. She was buried with her first husband and son in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University's Dahlgren Chapel.