Elizabeth de la Poer Beresford, Baroness Decies (April 22, 1868 – June 13, 1944) was an American author, philanthropist, and Manhattan socialite.

Early life

Drexel was born on April 22, 1868, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Lucy Wharton and Joseph William Drexel. Her paternal grandfather was the son of Francis Martin Drexel, the immigrant ancestor of Anthony Joseph Drexel who founded present-day J.P. Morgan & Co. and was influential in developing the private banking system of the United States.

Career

Drexel was an author who published two books, King Lehr and the Gilded Age (1935) and Turn of the World (1937). Her first novel, published after the death of her second husband, tells the story of her unhappy marriage to Henry Lehr, which was referred to as a "tragic farce" of a 28-year marriage. Time magazine described it as: "A bitter, disillusioned book, 'King Lehr' is memorable for the lurid light it throws on U. S. Society of the Gilded Age, may confidently be opened as one of the most startling and scandalously intimate records of life among the wealthy yet written by one of them." Her second book, and first as Lady Decies, Turn of the World, was also a semi-autobiographical history of American high society during the Gay Nineties up through World War I. Following the book's publication, The Pittsburgh Press wrote, "The magnificent spectacle that went on behind the scenes in pre-war days of society's Gilded Age at Saratoga, Newport, New York and Paris is detailed by an insider, Elizabeth, Lady Decies, who was Miss Elizabeth Wharton Drexel interesting, amusing and sometimes revolting, as with evident nostalgia she tells of extravagant parties and fortunes spent for clothes and jewels." In Paris, she purchased and renovated the Hôtel de Cavoye at 52 Rue des Saints-Pères in the 7th Arrondissement. The hôtel particulier was built as the Paris residence of Louis d'Oger, Marquis de Cavoye, a Favourite of King Louis XIV who served as Grand Marshall of the Royal Household at Versailles. At her home, she hosted receptions, including for Prince Christian of Hesse and his American wife, the former Elizabeth Reid Rogers.

Personal life

First marriage

On June 29, 1889, Elizabeth married John Vinton Dahlgren (1869–1899), a graduate from Georgetown University and the son of Admiral John A. Dahlgren (1809–1870) at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Together, they had two sons: During this marriage, she made generous donations to Roman Catholic charities and to Georgetown University, including funds for the construction of Dahlgren Chapel, which was named for her first son. Georgetown University asked for her portrait, which was painted in 1899 by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947). Dahlgren died August 11, 1899, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he had gone in hopes of recovering from tuberculosis.

Second marriage

In June 1901, Elizabeth married Henry Symes Lehr (1869–1929), aka Harry Lehr. The marriage was never consummated. According to her, on her wedding night, her husband told her that he loathed her and could not stand the thought of touching her ever, although he wanted her to understand she was to be cordial to him in public and he might in turn occasionally call her "darling". He had, he admitted, married her for her money because poverty terrified him. In 1915, the Lehrs were in Paris, and Elizabeth worked for the Red Cross. They remained in Paris after World War I, where they bought in 1923 the Hôtel de Cavoye at 52, rue des Saints-Pères in the 7th arrondissement. Harry Lehr died on January 3, 1929, of a brain malady in Baltimore.

Third marriage

On May 25, 1936, she married The Rt Hon. The 5th Baron Decies (1866–1944), a widower and Anglo-Irish peer who had previously been married to Helen Vivien Gould (1893–1931). Upon this marriage, she became The Rt Hon. Baroness Decies. Lord Decies filed suit for divorce in 1942, which Lady Decies contested. Lord Decies died on January 31, 1944, at his Ascot home.

Death

Elizabeth, Lady Decies, died at the Hotel Shelton in Manhattan on June 13, 1944. She was buried in the crypt below Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University, which she and her first husband had built as a memorial to their first son, Joseph Drexel Dahlgren, who died in infancy.

Published works