Madeleine Astor's 2nd husband William K Dick and family

[caroline herzfeld]

Was Madeleine Astor's 2nd husband related to the Dicks who were on the Titanic?

 

[matthew ewing]

I don't beleive he was, but i haven't done a lot of research on him so I'll look it up for you.

 

[Brian Ahern]

Hi Caroline,
If he was related, it wasn't closely, since he was a New Yorker and they were Canadian. My impression has always been that Mrs. Astor's husband came from a very hoity-toity Society family; and that the Dicks, though obviously well-to-do, were of more modest origins.
This is only my impression; somebody else around here might know better.

As an aside, I went to summer camp as a child with William K. Dick's grandson from his second marriage (i.e. not Mrs. Astor's grandson). This boy was the only other kid I've ever come across who was as much, if not more, of a Titanic enthusiast than I was.

 

[Mark Baber]

There are quite a few articles discussing Mr. Dick, including his obituary, linked to Mrs. Astor's biographical page. They bear out Brian's impression that he was from a wealthy, socially well-connected, family.

 

[caroline herzfeld]

thanks, guys.

 

[Brian Ahern]

It's interesting that this obit records Mrs. Dick #2 as Virginia Keniston Conner while the ET page records her as Virginia Montez Conner. I've never had any luck researching either name.

 

[Mark Baber]

The New York Times, 25 December 1941

WM. K. DICK MARRIES MRS. VIRGINIA CONNER
---
Chairman of the National Sugar Refining Co. Weds in Akron
---
Word has been received here of the marriage of Mrs. Virginia Keniston Conner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Conner of this city, to William K. Dick of this city and Alden Winden Farm, Islip, L. I., which took place in Akron, Ohio, yesterday afternoon in the presence of relatives. They will live in Islip and New York.

The bride attended the University of Akron. She studied at the Cleveland School of Fine Arts, was graduated from the Paris branch of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts and has also studied in New York where she is an interior designer. Her previous marriage to Willoughby Brazeau was terminated by divorce last year.

Mr. Dick is a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. Henry Dick and a grandson of the late William Dick, prominent in the founding of the sugar industry in this country. Mr. Dick has two sons by his former wife, the late Mrs. Madeline Force Dick. They are William F. Dick, who married Miss Virginia French on Dec. 17, and John Henry Dick.

The bridegroom is chairman of the executive committee of the National Sugar Refining Company and director of several large corporations. He is a member of the Brook, Racquet and Tennis, Southside, National Golf Links and Turf and Field Clubs and the Downtown Association.

-30-

[MAB Note: After Mr. Dick's death, Ms. Conner married Frederick S. Moseley, Jr., and was still married to him when he died in 1972, according to his obituary. The last reference I have to her at the moment is that her name appeared in a display ad listing of designers that appeared in The New York Times on 30 September 1979.]

 

[Brian Ahern]

Nice researching.
I wonder how the Montez came into it.

 

[Mark Baber]

If you run both variants through Google, the "Montez" version turns up a bunch of genealogical pages, while the "Keniston" version picks up only Mr. Dick's obit on ET.

 

[Brian Ahern]

A 1924 Time society page detailing who was arriving in New York on which liners that mentions the Dicks.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,718523,00.html

On the Berengaria (Cunard)–Mr. and Mrs. William K. Dick (wife of the late John Jacob Astor) and sons, John Jacob Astor, William K. Dick, J. H. Dick; Jesse L. Lasky, taking a script of the film version of Peter Pan to show Sir James M. Barrie; Jeanne Eagels, famed actress; Mrs. Margaret Talmadge, mother of the three famed Talmadge sisters ; John Emerson, President of the Actors' Equity Association, and his wife, Anita Loos, the director and scenario writer; E. E. Fernandi, "Rockefeller of Peru"; Benjamin Winchell, Remington Typewriter President ; Edna Ferber, novelist.

 

[Andrew Y Liu]

just wondering, did William and John ever get married and have any children? i know William Jr. married but divorced. but did he ever remarry? and did John get married?

 

[Andrew Y Liu]

i apologize about getting online so suddenly. i haven't been on for nearly 3 months. sorry!

 

[Grant Woollacott]

I think John married. Im not sure if they are still alive. I have been trying to find them for ages.

 

[Darren Honeycutt]

The Astor family descendants aren't too keen to discuss anything Titanic related.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

Darren have you contacted them? I would think they might talk as they aren't from J.J.s family they are from another line?

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hello Grant,

I think the point that Darren is trying to get across, is that no matter who the relatives are descended from, whether it be John Jacob Astor himself or someone else, none of them wish to discuss the Titanic. For obvious reasons, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

Thanks Jason i see that. ....there are many reasons why they would not want to speak.

 

[Darren Honeycutt]

Grant, I have read much in here that they do not care to discuss the Titanic and really are rather tired of the subject. However, I did write to a couple of relatives, one that lives in New York and the other in SC. I never got any response.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

Thanks Darren, I have a feeling Madelines sons have passed away.

 

[Andrew Y Liu]

hey darren and grant,
i just learned today that both William F Dick and John H Dick passed away. William was born April 11, 1917 in New York City and died December 4, 1961 in Port Maria, Jamaica aged 44 years. John was born May 12, 1919 in New York City and died in the September of 1995 in Charleston, SC. There is a tribute to John in The Post and Courier, Charleston, September 26, 1995, p. 8-A.
does anyone know if William every remarried or if John ever married? thanks.