Winthrop Astor Chanler

, the Chanler family estate in Barrytown, built in 1811 Chanler, who was known as "Wintie" Through his mother, he was related to the Astor family, and through his father, he was related to the Livingston family and the Stuyvesant family. Of his ten brothers and sisters, many were prominent, including John Armstrong Chaloner, a writer; Robert Winthrop Chanler, an artist; and William Astor Chanler, a noted soldier and explorer who served in the U.S. House of Representatives like their father, Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, the Lieutenant Governor of New York. His sister Margaret Livingston Chanler was married to critic Richard Aldrich and served as a nurse with the American Red Cross during the Spanish–American War, and sister Elizabeth Astor Winthrop Chanler was married to author John Jay Chapman. He and his siblings became orphans after the death of their mother in December 1875 and their father in October 1877, both to pneumonia. The children, known as the "Astor Orphans", were raised at their parents' estate in Rokeby, New York, built by John Armstrong Jr., their matrilineal great-great-grandfather. His father's estate was valued between $1,500,000 (equivalent to $) and $2,000,000 (equivalent to $ in dollars). John Winthrop Chanler's will provided $20,000 a year for each child for life (equivalent to $470,563 in 2018 dollars), enough to live comfortably by the standards of the time. Winthrop himself inherited all of his father's personal property in his New York City home, located at 192 Madison Avenue, all of his real estate in Delaware County, and a house on Cliff Lawn in Newport. Chanler prepared for university at Eton College and at St. John's Military Academy in Sing Sing, New York. Chanler, along with 60 other Harvard students, "marched down the center aisle in pairs, all carrying sunflowers and wearing Wildean costumes of knee breeches, black stockings, wide-spreading cravats, and shoulder length wigs." His grand-aunt Julia Ward Howe, who considered Winthrop her favorite, was in the audience and was apparently aghast at the prank. ==Career==

During the Spanish–American War, Chanler did not enlist in the regular U.S. Army but instead joined the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, better known as the "Rough Riders", including his younger brother William, to join the Cuban volunteers under General Emilio Núñez. His brother received a Captain's commission from President William McKinley to serve under U.S. General Joseph Wheeler and Winthrop received a conditional commission as Lieutenant colonel under the Cuban government. On June 30, 1898 in the Battle of Tayacoba, Chanler led twenty-five Rough Riders. During the battle, Captain Núñez was killed and Chanler was shot through the right elbow. They had to take cover in a mangrove swamp until they could be rescued by the American steamship Florida. Chanler returned to his home in Barrytown to recover from his injuries. By the time his arm healed, the war was over, so Chanler sailed to Europe where he stayed for several years in Sorrento, Italy taking a "life of hunting." ==Personal life==

On December 16, 1886, Chanler was married to Margaret Louisa Terry (1862–1952), a first cousin, once removed, in Rome, Italy. After their marriage, the Chanlers moved to Washington, D.C., where they surrounded themselves with a group of friends, including Theodore Roosevelt, who was then the Civil Service Commissioner, and later President of the United States. • John Winthrop Chanler II (1889–1894), who died young. • Beatrice Margaret Chanler (1891–1974), who married Pierre Francis Allegaert (1896–1961). • Hester Marion Chanler (1893–1990), who married Edward Motley Pickman, a descendant of Dudley Leavitt Pickman, in 1915. Hester was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Ethel Roosevelt Derby in 1913. • Marion Winthrop Chanler (1895–1931), who drowned. • Margaret Gabrielle "May" Chanler (1897–1958), who married Porter Ralph Chandler (1899–1979). • Hubert Winthrop Chanler (1900–1974), who married Gertrude Laughlin (1914–1999), daughter of Ambassador Irwin B. Laughlin. • Theodore Ward Chanler (1902–1961), who married Maria De Acosta Sargent (1880–1970). Theodore's godfather was President Theodore Roosevelt, who attended his christening in Newport in 1902. The Chanler's spent the winter of 1891 to 1892 in New York where three of his sisters were introduced to society. In 1892, both Chanler and his wife Margaret 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. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. His wife described the list of New York's elite as "not unlike Dante's description of Paradise." Chanler, a member of the Society of Patriarchs, attended the Patriarch's Ball organized by McAllister for his fellow "American aristocrats" at Delmonico's in December 1892. In 1903, Chanler moved from Newport to Geneseo, New York in Livingston County. In 1913, his wife, who was Catholic, built the Chapel of St. Felicity at the Farm. He died at Brigham Hall in Canandaigua, New York on August 24, 1926, After Chanler's death, his widow wrote several novels and a memoir entitled Roman Spring, published in 1934. ==Notes==