Cryder triplets
The Cryder triplets were American socialites who entered Manhattan society at the turn of the 20th century.[1] If the female triplets were not genetically identical, they apparently looked so similar that "the only way to distinguish them was by their different hair ribbons, one red, one light blue, the other white."[2] The Cryder sisters were born into some wealth, grew up in France after the money vanished, returned to New York in 1899 where they married well.[3] Their father Duncan Cryder was a tea importer.[4] They had an older sister, Anita Cryder, who was born in China, and died of illness in New York.[2] They had a one-year-younger brother Odgen Cryder who was killed in a streetcar accident at age 17.[4] A memorial stained-glass window for Ogden Cryder, designed by Tiffany Studios, was installed in Southampton's St. Andrews Dune Church in 1902.[5]
- Edith Cryder (December 2, 1882–January 10, 1954) married Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr. and then Roger W. Cutler. She had two children with Ames, Frederick Lothrop Ames III, and Mary Callender Ames, and raised them in Boston.[6] After the death of her first husband Ames, she remarried textile manufacturer Cutler and lived with him at the "Ames Villa" in Newport, Rhode Island.[7] Her daughter married Howard G. Cushing.[8]
- Ethel Cryder (December 2, 1882–August 2, 1964) married Henry V. Higgins of London, and then Arthur Fowler.[9] She was friends with Consuelo Vanderbilt in London; Vanderbilt wrote in her memoir that she was a "frequent and welcome guest...An American by birth, one of the lovely Cryder triplets, she was a gay and delightful visitor. During the war we worked together for our American Hospital and she organised the volunteer workers both for the hospital and for the Y.M.C.A. that we opened for our troops. I looked forward to our peaceful week-ends and deeply resented being robbed of them by clamorous outsiders who wished to be invited."[10] Edith Cryder Higgins Fowler became an important hostess in Washington, D.C., and was close with Alice Roosevelt Longworth.[11][12]
- Elizabeth O. "Elsie" Cryder (December 2, 1882–July 13, 1981) married William Woodward II;[13] their son William Woodward was shot and killed by his wife Ann in 1955, attracting the attention of writer Truman Capote.[13] The Woodwards also had daughters Edith Woodward Bancroft, Alice "Libby" Woodward, Sarah Woodward Sewall, and Ethel Woodward De Croisset.[14][15] Ethel De Croisset retreated to a villa on Malaga after separating from her husband and the shooting death of her brother.[16] Elsie Cryder Woodward donated money and bequeathed art to establish the Woodward Wing of the Baltimore Art Museum.[17] After her butler of 40 years retired, she sold her apartment, and moved into one-bedroom at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.[18] Following the death of her husband, she developed a second, parallel social life, in addition to the one she had shared with her wealthy husband and Society, telling an interviewer about her friend Andy Warhol, "Oh, Andy brought me such a present. I wish you could see it. It's a bracelet—one of those plastic kinds that you see all the colored girls wearing. It was fun. But, you know, I never mix my friends; Andy and his group just wouldn't get along with my bridge-playing friends."[19] Mrs. William Woodward died at the Waldorf in 1981 at age 98.[20]
References
[edit]- ↑ Cummings, Mary (2021-01-15). "High Style in the Gilded Age: The Cryder Triplets". southampton-history. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- 1 2 Roosevelt (1975), p. 25.
- ↑ Heckman, Lucy (2004-01-15). Damascus: Thoroughbred Legends. Eclipse Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-58150-111-7.
- 1 2 Euler, Laura (2019-09-19). "The Amazing, Turbulent Lives of the Cryders of Southampton". Behind the Hedges. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ Eaton, Connie Clough (2012-03-14). Tiffany Windows Stained Glass Pattern Book. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-13966-1.
- ↑ "306 Dartmouth". Back Bay Houses. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "[Mrs. Ogden L. Mills's 'Ocean View' Estate (Left) and Roger W. Cutler's 'Ames Villa' Estate, Newport, RI]". digitalcollections.smu.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "MRS. ROBERT W. CUTLER; First to Die of We!l Known Cryder Triplet Daughters". The New York Times. 1954-01-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "MISS ETHEL CRYDER A BRIDE.; Married to Cecil Higgins of London Yesterday at Aunt's Home". The New York Times. 1908-12-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ Balsan, Consuelo Vanderbilt (2012-10-02). The Glitter and the Gold: The Real-Life Gladys Russell of “The Gilded Age” in Her Own Words. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-250-01719-2.
- ↑ Braudy, Susan (2014). This Crazy Thing Called Love: The Golden World and Fatal Marriage of Ann and Billy Woodward. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8041-5335-5.
- ↑ "MRS. A. A. FOWLER, A SOCIETY WOMAN". The New York Times. 1964-08-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- 1 2 Conn, Stephen R. (1966-09-04). "A Patrician Lady With a Full Social Schedule". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "THRONG AT WEDDING OF MISS WOODWARD; New York Girl Married to Thomas M. Bancroft in St. Thomas's Chantry. FATHER ESCORTS THE BRIDE Beautiful Floral Decorations and a Full Choral Service--Reception at Woodward Home". The New York Times. 1929-06-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ Roosevelt (1975), p. 27.
- ↑ Cámara, José Rodríguez (2025-01-07). "American millionaire Ethel Woodward's secret retreat in Malaga province town". Sur in English. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting". research.frick.org. Archived from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ Roosevelt (1975), p. 24.
- ↑ Roosevelt (1975), pp. 30–31.
- ↑ "Elsie Woodward, a grand dame of society and breeder..." UPI. Retrieved 2026-07-31.