a single man, whereupon he promptly wed the Crampton widow at a private wedding at the Cayuga Lake House.
But there was a serious problem from the beginning: Susan Crampton Rockwell’s eccentric uncle and guardian, Francis Palmer, had warned her not to remarry or she would risk disinheritance from one of the largest personal fortunes in New York City. The couple commanded family and friends to keep their marriage silent, a pact sustained, amazingly, for three years. Waring and Nancy, averse to anything that publicly compromised one’s moral stature, undoubtedly clucked in disapproval at the slick older brother’s methods. And they would have seen him often; Sam worked daily with his father at the coal business on 1 Broadway. He lived, however, in an elegant brownstone residence at 10 West Seventy-first Street that his wife’s uncle had given her (in addition to a country house) at the time of her first marriage, and such handsome surroundings would have caused his relatives, whom he frequently invited over, to forgive him much.
Although jewels and gifts of money had been lavished on the Cramptons seventeen years earlier, banker Francis Palmer felt differently about this second marriage of his beloved niece when he finally found out about it. It appears from his carefully worded response to reporters hounding him for a statement that he sniffed a gold digger; Samuel Rockwell’s reputation as a ladies’ man, his work in the coal industry, and the contrast between the playboy’s elegant slimness and Susan’s matronly appearance all cast suspicion upon the union. Publicly, Palmer stated that because his niece had married without his consent and then deliberately deceived him, he had disinherited her from the $5,000,000 reported to be previously promised her.
Publicity raged. The November 26, 1901,
New York Journal
deemed the event worthy of a bold headline on its front page: “ WED FOR THE SECOND TIME IN SECRET, ” followed by the subtitle “ NIECE OF F. A. PALMER LOSES FORTUNE. ” The article claimed that “millionaire Philanthropist and Bank president discovers his selected heir married again and decides to leave his millions to charity and Education Institutions—niece kept marriage secret three years and is ‘happy though married.’ ”
The New York Times
reported that after Palmer “accidentally” heard about the marriage, he obtained a “confession” from his adored grandniece, who for the entire period of her marriage had been leaving her own house by six in the morning in order to breakfast with her uncle at seven, then shop with him daily before returning to her home on Seventy-first Street, where a reporter claimed to have seen the “slender, delicate-looking” young Samuel Rockwell.
Indeed, he was slender. A picture from 1902 would reveal a substantially overweight bride with a scarecrow of a husband at her side, the couple surveying “their” property at the Lamertine Mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
Samuel gave the newspaper his own self-serving version of the uncle’s actions: “The marriage was kept from Mr. Palmer because he is an old crank, a perfect fanatic. He does not believe in second marriages, and we feared the news of ours might kill him.” Shifting his tactics totally, the young groom continued energetically: “He says that I cannot support Mrs. Rockwell. He has only gone on this tangent because I am showing I am able to do so. He is angry because his niece has not been compelled to eat humble pie and because when our marriage was announced a short time ago [after Palmer found out first] our friends in society rallied loyally to our support and Mrs. Rockwell’s social position has not suffered. The anonymous letter to Mr. Palmer, telling of our marriage, was written by a scheming relative who wanted to get his money.” Not to be deterred in his self-righteous anger, Samuel continued: “If Mr. Palmer keeps on talking about the affair he will hear from me. I will show him
But there was a serious problem from the beginning: Susan Crampton Rockwell’s eccentric uncle and guardian, Francis Palmer, had warned her not to remarry or she would risk disinheritance from one of the largest personal fortunes in New York City. The couple commanded family and friends to keep their marriage silent, a pact sustained, amazingly, for three years. Waring and Nancy, averse to anything that publicly compromised one’s moral stature, undoubtedly clucked in disapproval at the slick older brother’s methods. And they would have seen him often; Sam worked daily with his father at the coal business on 1 Broadway. He lived, however, in an elegant brownstone residence at 10 West Seventy-first Street that his wife’s uncle had given her (in addition to a country house) at the time of her first marriage, and such handsome surroundings would have caused his relatives, whom he frequently invited over, to forgive him much.
Although jewels and gifts of money had been lavished on the Cramptons seventeen years earlier, banker Francis Palmer felt differently about this second marriage of his beloved niece when he finally found out about it. It appears from his carefully worded response to reporters hounding him for a statement that he sniffed a gold digger; Samuel Rockwell’s reputation as a ladies’ man, his work in the coal industry, and the contrast between the playboy’s elegant slimness and Susan’s matronly appearance all cast suspicion upon the union. Publicly, Palmer stated that because his niece had married without his consent and then deliberately deceived him, he had disinherited her from the $5,000,000 reported to be previously promised her.
Publicity raged. The November 26, 1901,
New York Journal
deemed the event worthy of a bold headline on its front page: “ WED FOR THE SECOND TIME IN SECRET, ” followed by the subtitle “ NIECE OF F. A. PALMER LOSES FORTUNE. ” The article claimed that “millionaire Philanthropist and Bank president discovers his selected heir married again and decides to leave his millions to charity and Education Institutions—niece kept marriage secret three years and is ‘happy though married.’ ”
The New York Times
reported that after Palmer “accidentally” heard about the marriage, he obtained a “confession” from his adored grandniece, who for the entire period of her marriage had been leaving her own house by six in the morning in order to breakfast with her uncle at seven, then shop with him daily before returning to her home on Seventy-first Street, where a reporter claimed to have seen the “slender, delicate-looking” young Samuel Rockwell.
Indeed, he was slender. A picture from 1902 would reveal a substantially overweight bride with a scarecrow of a husband at her side, the couple surveying “their” property at the Lamertine Mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
Samuel gave the newspaper his own self-serving version of the uncle’s actions: “The marriage was kept from Mr. Palmer because he is an old crank, a perfect fanatic. He does not believe in second marriages, and we feared the news of ours might kill him.” Shifting his tactics totally, the young groom continued energetically: “He says that I cannot support Mrs. Rockwell. He has only gone on this tangent because I am showing I am able to do so. He is angry because his niece has not been compelled to eat humble pie and because when our marriage was announced a short time ago [after Palmer found out first] our friends in society rallied loyally to our support and Mrs. Rockwell’s social position has not suffered. The anonymous letter to Mr. Palmer, telling of our marriage, was written by a scheming relative who wanted to get his money.” Not to be deterred in his self-righteous anger, Samuel continued: “If Mr. Palmer keeps on talking about the affair he will hear from me. I will show him
Similar Books
