He married Mary Cunningham (1842–1905), the second daughter of Elizabeth Griffiths (1809–1869) and Scottish born James C. Cunningham (1801–1870), who was a mechanical engineer and ship owner of
Irvington, New York. Cunningham operated successively in New York, Boston, and, starting in 1850, San Francisco, where he operated his steam ship
Senator, developed Cunningham's Wharf and was involved in the early development the city. Her sister, Jane Templeton Cunningham (1832–1888), was married to
Darius Ogden Mills (1825–1910). Their daughter,
Elisabeth Mills, married Ambassador
Whitelaw Reid, and their son,
Ogden Mills (1856–1929), was a prominent financier. Together, Heber and Mary had eight children: •
Mary Cunningham Bishop (1864–1948), who died unmarried. • Elizabeth Templeton Bishop (1865–1934), who married James Low Harriman (1856–1928), eldest son of
Oliver Harriman •
Harriet Arnold Bishop (1866–1931), • Heber Reginald Bishop Jr. (1868–1923), who married Mabel Wolverton Sard (1871–1923), who was previously married to Arthur Amory Jr. (1867–1898) •
James Cunningham Bishop (1870–1932), who married Abigail Adams Hancock (1872–1949), niece of
Winfield Scott Hancock, and had five daughters. • Francis Cunningham Bishop (1872–1927),, co-owner of
Newcastle Stable, who married Gertrude Sophia Pell (d. 1953) in 1906, and had three sons. • Edith Bishop (1874–1959), who married Moses Taylor V (1871–1928), grandson of
Moses Taylor, in 1896. After his death, she married George James Guthrie Nicholson (1871–1950). • Ogden Mills Bishop (1878–1955) Bishop died on December 10, 1902, at his residence, 881 Fifth Avenue, after a long illness. Bishop, his wife, and several of their children are interred in the Bishop mausoleum at
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,
Sleepy Hollow, New York. It sits next to the Cunningham mausoleum erected by his wife's father, and a short distance from the Darius Ogden Mills and Whitelaw Reid mausoleums. His estate, valued at approximately $3,500,000, was left in trust for his widow, children, sisters, and brother. He left funds to the Metropolitan Museum for the preservation of his collection. By 1915, his estate's holdings in
Standard Oil had increased in value by $1,450,000.
Society life Mary's brother-in-law, Darius Ogden Mills, was instrumental in introducing the Bishops to elite New York business and society circles. For example, Heber and his children Mary, Harriet, and Ogden were members of
Ward McAllister's "
Four Hundred" list, reportedly the number of people who could fit into
Mrs. Astor's ballroom. His daughter Harriet's home, the
James F. D. Lanier Residence, is a New York landmark. His daughter Edith and her husband owned many residences, including Annandale Farm in
Mt. Kisco, NY, Glen Farm in
Portsmouth, RI, and the
Villa Taylor in
Marrakesh,
Morocco, where Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt "played hookey" during World War II. The Taylors would cruise to Morocco aboard their 310-foot steam yacht
Iolanda. In 1898, Bishop and his wife gave a red domino dance for 150 at their residence in New York. An 1895 watercolor on ivory portrait of the four daughters is held by the
New York Historical Society. He was a member of the
Metropolitan Club, the
Union Club, the
Union League Club, the
New York Yacht Club, the City Club, the Turf and Field Club, the
Century Association, the
New England Society, the
Mendelssohn Glee Club, the
Chicago Club of Chicago, the
Golf Club of Newport, the Turf Club of Newport, the
American Hackney Horse Society of New York, the
Boone and Crockett Club and the
Civil Service Reform Association. ==References==