Harry Elkins Widener
Harry Elkins Widener was born January 3, 1885, the first son of George and Eleanor Widener. He attended private school and graduated from Harvard in 1907 where he had developed an interest in book collecting. His collection included works by Shakespeare and a Guttenberg Bible. In 1912 at age 27 he was made a trip to London, where he made purchases for his collection. In April he boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with his father, mother, and two servants. On the evening of April 14, after the ship struck the iceberg, he and his parents went on deck where he and his father assisted Eleanor Widener and her maid into a lifeboat. First Class survivor and fellow Philadelphian William Carter later said that he saw Harry on the deck of the sinking ship and urged him to try for a lifeboat. Harry replied that he would "...stick to the big ship... and take a chance." He went down with the ship and was regarded as a gentleman for his brave demeanor in the face of danger, particularly in a letter of sympathy from his Harvard classmates written to his mother. Eleanor Widener built the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard which was dedicated in 1915 and his collection of 3,500 books was moved there from Lynnewood Hall. His portrait hangs in the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Room, beneath which the university places flowers to this day.

Eleanor Widener Dixon
Eleanor Widener, daughter of George D. Widener Sr. and Eleanor Elkins Widener, was born in Philadelphia on April 10, 1891. At the time of her family's trip on the Titanic she was engaged to Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr., a banker and Davis Cup Captain. The wedding later went on as planned, although scaled down, at Lynnewood Hall with her brother George Widener Jr. giving her away.

In the early 1920's Horace Trumbauer designed Ronaele Manor, a 60-room Tudor style mansion with 28 chimneys on property adjacent to Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park that became the residence of Fitz and Eleanor Dixon and their children Eleanor and Fitz Jr. The Dixons later divorced and the property eventually became part of an educational institution. It was torn down in 1975 by a developer despite having been declared a historical site.

In 1942 Eleanor Widener Dixon donated her $350,000 yacht Ronaele to the U.S Navy. Ronaele is Eleanor spelled backwards. Mrs. Dixon, and later her son Fitz Jr., made large financial donations to Abington Memorial Hospital and Maine Coast Memorial Hospital. Both institutions today bear the name Dixon in memory of "Mrs. Widener Dixon," as she was known, who died at age 74 at her home in Chestnut Hill, P.A. Her obituary said that she was active in groups promoting the preservation of birds and enjoyed raising flowers.

George Dunton Widener Jr. and Jessie Sloane Widener
George Dunton Widener Jr., the second son of George D. and Eleanor Widener, was born on March 11, 1889 in Philadelphia. Educated in private schools he became interested in horse breeding and racing, through the influence of his uncle Joseph, after the death of his father and brother in the sinking of the Titanic. In March 1917 he married Mrs. Jessie Sloane Dodge, the daughter of millionaire Henry T. Sloane. The wedding took place at the Sloane residence in New York City before a small group of family and friends, including the Rev. Henry Sloane Coffin and Joseph E. Widener, with Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. acting as best man. Jessie was recently divorced from her first husband William Earl Dodge, grandson of the philanthropist founder of Phelps-Dodge Corporation, whom she married in New York in 1905 and divorced in Pennsylvania in 1916.

The new Mrs. Widener's parents, Henry T. Sloane and Jessie Robbins Sloane, had divorced in 1899 after only a few years of marriage. Henry T. Sloane was the son of the founder of W & J. Sloane Department Store in New York City, and aside from running the business was also a philanthropist whose generosity included two Physics Labs donated to Yale University which still bear the Sloane name today. He owned several magnificent homes in New York City including a Beaux Arts town home on East 72nd Street. The home was occupied by the Lycee Francais a private school for many years and as of 2001 was listed for sale at $25 million.

George D. Widener Jr. & Jessie Sloane Widener 1949.
Courtesy Temple University Urban Archives

Emily De la Grange
Jessie's sister Emily was born about 1890 and married Baron Amaury De La Grange, the French World War II era statesman, under-secretary of State of France, and aviation pioneer. Born in Paris in 1888, the Baron served as Lieutenant Colonel in the French Army in World War I, receiving the Croix De Guerre three times as well as the Distinguished Medal from the United States.

His estate near Hazebrouck, which served as British Army Headquarters, was damaged in World War II. Baron De La Grange died in Zurich, Switzerland on June 10, 1953. He was survived by his wife, children, and 12 grandchildren. After his death Emily maintained homes in New York, Florida, and Monaco.

Baron and Baroness De La Grange had a son, Henry Louis, a Swiss resident as of 1983, and three daughters, one of whom was the Countess De Guebriant. In May 1938 his daughter, Amecie De La Grange, married Marquis Aymard De Nicolay at the Church of St Thomas d'Aquin, ancestral church of the De La Grange family for many generations.

Their other daughter, Marie De La Grange, was editor with the broadcast section of the French Division Office of War Information and came to the United States in 1939. In April 1941 she married Henry B. Hyde at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. She was given away by her uncle George D. Widener Jr. Hyde was the paternal grandson of the founder of Equitable Life Assurance and his maternal grandfather was John G. Leishman, former U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Germany, and Turkey.

Henry and Marie Hyde, had two daughters the first being Lorna, who worked for Christian Dior and married and divorced Baron Hubert de Wangen, then later married Lawrence Graev. Lorna Graev is active socially in raising money for charity in New York City. Their second daughter Isabel first married the CEO of an American manufacturing company and then later married Daniel Schrimpf.

Henry B. Hyde died in April 1997, and Marie Hyde died at age 64 in June, 1983 both in New York City as reported by the New York Times. Baroness Emily Sloane De La Grange died at age 93 in October 1981 in an accident in her chauffer driven car in Monaco.

Diana Dodge Davies Ryan
Jessie Sloane's daughter from her first marriage to William Dodge, Diana, was born August 20, 1910 and attended the Sorbonne in Paris. In August 1928 Dr. and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice held a ball at Miramar in Newport to introduce Diana to society. Former Rhode Island Governor and Mrs. R. Livingston Beeckman also gave a large dinner for Diana at Land's End.

In July 1930 Jessie Widener announced the engagement of Diana to Frederick Martin Davies, a banker with Cassatt & Company, a Harvard graduate, and member of various clubs. Frederick's father was a prominent banker and horseman. One of his grandfathers, Eugene O'Neill was publisher of the Pittsburgh Dispatch from 1877-1902.

Frederick and Diana Davies had a daughter Diana, possibly another daughter, and divorced in 1936. The same year Diana married her second husband, Princeton graduate George F. Ryan. The ceremony took place in the drawing room of George and Jessie Widener's Erdenheim Farm estate in Pennsylvania.

Ryan's grandfather was the late Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928), the traction and tobacco magnate and the world’s tenth richest man at the time of his death. He was worth between $100-$200 million which he left to his descendants. George's brother Clenindin Ryan Jr. was secretary to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York City.

Another of Thomas Ryan's descendants was Virginia Fortune Ryan. She was born in 1933 and married David Ogilvy, 8th Earl of Airlie, of Great Britain in 1952 and became Lady Airlie. They had six children. In 1968 she was granted the title Countess of Airlie, and in 1973 became Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II a position which she holds to this day. Countess Airlie's father was John Barry Ryan of Newport, R.I. who married her mother Margaret Kahn daughter of the Long Island financier Otto Kahn (1867-1934) of Kuhn, Loeb, & Co. The Ryan name is prominent to this day and weddings of Thomas Ryan's descendants are usually posted in the New York Times.

In 1936 George and Diana Ryan purchased the historic Vaucluse estate onthe Sakonnet River, a tidal strait, in Middletown, R.I. and built a large home on the property.

Vaucluse Farm 1947
Courtesy Library of Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection

Vaucluse Farm Living Room 1947
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection

One of Jessie Wideners granddaughter’s Linda Caroline Ryan, a 1961 debutante, married Francis C. Grant of Chestnut Hill, at a large ceremony in Newport in 1966. George D. Widener Jr. gave away his step-granddaughter and the reception was held at Vaucluse. The Grants later divorced and in 1973 Linda married Dyer Jones, President of a boat building company in Rhode Island. The marriage took place at Mr. and Mrs. Cortright Wetherill's Happy Hill Farm in Pennsylvania. The New York Times reported Mr. Jones later remarried so this marriage also ended in divorce.

Mr. and Mrs. George D. Widener, Jr. at Vaucluse Farm, 1966, for wedding of
Mrs. Widener's grandaughter.
Courtesy Temple University Urban Archives

Another of Jessie's granddaughter’s Sheila Ryan married attorney Warwick Neville then later divorced and married William F. Thayer of Palm Beach. Diana Dodge Davies Ryan passed away in October 1977, at age 67 and was buried at St. Mary's Episcopal Churchyard, Portsmouth, R.I. Her Vaucluse estate was purchased by the Van Beuren family, descendants of the Campbells soup family, who own it to this day. The house itself was destroyed by fire in the late 1990's. Today Diana's descendants live up and down the East Coast.

Over some 50 years, horses owned and bred by the George and Jessie Widener won 1,243 races and over $9 million in purses. Their most famous horse was probably Jaipur, winner of the Belmont Stakes in 1962. George Widener held numerous positions with thoroughbred organizations and was honorary chair of the Jockey Club. He also held executive positions with the Westchester Racing Association which owned and operated Belmont Park. He never entered a horse in the Kentucky Derby, saying that the race was too early in the season for 3 year olds.

Widener was a very well known philanthropist and served as trustee on the boards of museums, art centers, and hospitals in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C. He was a vestryman at St Paul's Episcopal Church in Elkins Park and built a recreation building at a Protestant church in Chestnut Hill. In the business world he held directorships with the Land Title Bank and Trust, Philadelphia Traction Company, and Electric Storage Battery Company, although his main interest was breeding thoroughbred horses at his Erdenheim Farm estate in Chestnut Hill. He was president and director of the Westchester Racing Association and chairman of the Jockey Club in New York.

In the early 1950's George Widener commissioned a book Widener-Dunton-Elkins-Broomall & Allied Families, compiled by Thomas Bateman. The 700-plus page volume provided genealogical information on the above families along with many others related by marriage. The book contains dozens of family crests and elaborate charts and there are numerous chapters which detail the direct lineage to George Jr. from royalty such as William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, and the Plantagenets, on both the Widener and Elkins side, along with links to New England and Revolutionary War ancestors. To say this work is detailed is an understatement.

The Wideners were very well known East Coast socialites and hosted overnight guests such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at Erdenheim Farm.

Jessie Sloane Dodge Widener died at age 84 on March 11, 1968, her husband's 79th birthday. Mrs. Widener passed away at the Miami Heart Institute in Florida where she had been a patient for 2 weeks. She and her husband had been married for over 50 years. Her obituary states that prior to her death she had frequently been seen in the Widener box at Hialeah during the racing season. Surviving family members were her sister Baroness Emily De La Grange of Paris, her daughter Diana Ryan of Newport and 4 granddaughters, Mrs. Linda Grant, Mrs. Messmore Kendall, Mrs. Warwick Neville, and Mrs. Alexandra Dewey all of the Philadelphia area.

George Dunton Widener Jr. lived 3 more years and passed away at his Erdenheim Farm Estate on December 8, 1971. His funeral service was held at St Thomas Church in Whitemarsh, located on historic Church Hill, the site of a Revolutionary War battle between George Washington's troops and the British Army.

In his will in part he directed that "...my wife’s engagement ring and the pearls she wore so often be sold and the proceeds be divided among her 4 grandchildren...". He left $200,000 to his stepdaughter Diana Ryan, and added $3 million to a 1962 trust fund set up for his four step-granddaughters and two daughters of his wife's sister.

He and his wife had no children of their own so he left the bulk of his vast estate to his nephew and only immediate relative, Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. Widener's obituaries in various newspapers described him as "patrician", the last representative of a bygone, genteel era, an immaculately tailored gentleman who was highly regarded in the horse racing world due to his distinguished manner.

Eleanor Widener Dixon Gentle
Eleanor Widener Dixon was born the daughter of Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. and Eleanor Widener Dixon. She attended private school, spent a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, and was a 1931 Philadelphia debutante. In 1937 her parents announced her engagement to James C. Gentle, son of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gentle of Brookline, Mass. James was a 1926 University of Pennsylvania graduate and member of the 1932 U.S. Olympic Soccer Team in Los Angeles. James and Eleanor Gentle lived in the Flourtown area of Montgomery County. Eleanor played on the Sunnybrook Golf Club Team and was a member of the Philadelphia Women's Golf Committee. She was a trustee of the Abington Memorial Hospital, the Maine Coast Memorial Hospital and the Bethesda Hospital in Delray Beach, Florida.

Eleanor Widener Dixon Gentle passed away at age 53 at Germantown Hospital in Philadelphia in July 1967. Funeral services were held at St Paul's Church in Chestnut Hill. She was survived by her husband, her father Fitz Eugene Dixon, and her brother Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.

Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.
Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. was born August 14, 1923 and attended private school and Harvard University for one year. On June 5, 1952 he married Edith B. Robb of Ardmore. Dixon was well known in Philadelphia as a horse owner and breeder, businessman, and former owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA team which he purchased in 1976 and sold in 1981. Chairman Emeritus of Widener University, Dixon was also Trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He and his wife Edith were patrons of the arts and regularly donated to and raised money for numerous charities, educational and medical institutions.

In 1971 upon the death of his uncle George D. Widener Jr., he inherited the Widener fortune along with Erdenheim Farm. Erdenheim Farm is one of the last large undeveloped parcels of land in Montgomery County and controversy has arisen over the future development of the property with developers on one side and local community groups on the other who favored Dixon for holding onto the property despite numerous offers from developers. As was his uncle, Dixon was described as "patrician" and was highly regarded in Philadelphia as a philanthropist. Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr. died of skin cancer Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at age 82 at Abington Memorial Hospital north of Philadelphia. Funeral services were held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in and he was interred in the Widener family mausoleum in Laurel Hill Cemetery. His death was prominently noted in newspapers from Palm Beach to Maine, where he had a summer home. He was involved in boards, directorships, and charities too numerous to mention.

Every obituary that was published was highly complimentary of this extraordinary gentleman who was described as wealthy but humble and highly regarded by all he met. Mr. Dixon was survived by his wife Edith, son George Widener Dixon of Florida, and daughter Ellin Dixon Miller of Florida along with grand and great grandchildren. He left part of his Erdenheim estate to his daughter Ellin and the rest of the property has been in the news in the local area as preservation efforts are underway by several local groups as well as by Montgomery County officials to save this magnificent piece of history. On July 24, 2007, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendall announced that the state was granting $1 million to several groups seeking to preserve the property.

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