Bouvier family

Last updated
Bouvier
Lee, Auchincloss
Current region New York
Place of origin France
Founded1820;204 years ago (1820)
Founder Michel Bouvier
Members John Vernou Bouvier Jr.
John Vernou Bouvier III
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
Caroline Lee Bouvier
Connected members Janet Norton Lee
John F. Kennedy
Aristotle Onassis
Michael Temple Canfield
Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł
Francis Anthony Drexel
Connected families Kennedy family
House of Radziwiłł
Vanderbilt family
Estate(s) Lasata

The Bouvier family or Bouvier-Lee-Auchincloss family describes the wealthy, American family connected with former First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. It was founded in the United States around 1820 and joined the American upper class over subsequent years. Members of the family have French, Irish, and English ancestry.

Contents

History

Michel Bouvier, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, was a French cabinet maker who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1815. By the time of his death, he had become wealthy, owning a cabinet-making business and large lands which contained coal reserves.

His sons John Vernou Bouvier Sr. and Michel “M.C.” Bouvier worked on Wall Street, relocating to New York and further growing the family fortune. His daughter Emma Mary Bouvier (1833–1883), married financier Francis Anthony Drexel, the son of Francis Martin Drexel and the brother 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. [1]

John Vernou Bouvier Jr. was born in 1866 and inherited US$250,000(equivalent to $4,436,047 in 2023) from the family, some of which he lost in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. He was also a successful attorney. [2]

John Vernou Bouvier III, the son of J. V. Bouvier Jr married Janet Norton Lee in 1928. Her father was James Thomas Lee, who came from another prominent Manhattan family. His father, Dr. James Lee, was the superintendent of New York Public Schools, as well as a local physician. Lee became a lawyer in the real estate industry, before investing in real estate successfully and developing several luxury buildings in Manhattan, including the Peter Stuyvesant Apartments. [3]

Bouvier sisters Jackie and Lee with President John F. Kennedy and other family. Palm Beach, Florida (1962) Ksiaze Stanislaw Radziwill w czasie Swiat Bozego Narodzenia 1962 roku, Palm Beach, Floryda, USA.jpg
Bouvier sisters Jackie and Lee with President John F. Kennedy and other family. Palm Beach, Florida (1962)

John III and Janet had two daughters, Jacqueline, who married John F. Kennedy in 1953 and later Aristotle Onassis and Lee, who married Michael Temple Canfield, Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł and Herbert Ross. Janet later married stockbroker and lawyer Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr., the son of Hugh D. Auchincloss Sr. and a stepfather of Gore Vidal. Their marriage produced Janet Auchincloss Rutherfurd, who married Lewis Polk Rutherfurd, grandson of Levi P. Morton, former Vice President of the United States. [4]

John Vernou Bouvier Jr’s daughter Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale married Phelan Beale. They had children: Bouvier Beale, Phelan Beale Jr. and Edith Bouvier Beale.

In 1975 Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter “Little Edie” were the subjects of a documentary called Grey Gardens. It documented their day-to-day lives living in the dilapidated Grey Gardens mansion with raccoons and cats in increasing squalor.

They are most known for their connection with the Kennedy family. [5]

Residences

The Bouvier family home, Lasata Lasata.jpg
The Bouvier family home, Lasata

The residence most commonly associated with the family is Lasata, the home of John Vernou Bouvier Jr. in East Hampton, New York.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Lee Bouvier</span> American socialite (1907–1989)

Janet Norton Lee Auchincloss, previously Bouvier, was an American socialite. She was the mother of the former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Lee Radziwill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Bouvier Beale</span> American socialite and cabaret performer (1917–2002)

Edith Bouvier Beale, nicknamed Little Edie, was an American socialite, fashion model, and cabaret performer. She was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill. She is best known for her participation in the 1975 documentary film Grey Gardens, by Albert and David Maysles,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Radziwill</span> American socialite (1933–2019)

Caroline Lee Radziwiłł, also previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vernou Bouvier III</span> American Wall Street stockbroker

John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III was an American Wall Street stockbroker and socialite. He was the father of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and of socialite Princess Lee Radziwill, and was the father-in-law of John F. Kennedy.

Janet Jennings Auchincloss Rutherfurd was an American socialite. She was the half sister of the former First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and socialite Princess Lee Radziwill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr.</span> American stockbroker and lawyer

Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Jr. was an American stockbroker and lawyer. He became the second husband of Nina S. Gore, mother of Gore Vidal, and also the second husband of Janet Lee Bouvier, the mother of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Caroline Lee Bouvier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale</span> American socialite and singer (1895 – 1977)

Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale was an American socialite and singer known for her reclusive and eccentric lifestyle. Known as Big Edie, she was a sister of John Vernou Bouvier III and an aunt of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and socialite Princess Lee Radziwill. Her life and relationship with her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale was highlighted in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery is a cemetery in East Hampton, New York, that is the burial ground for the paternal ancestors and relatives of First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lasata</span> Estate in East Hampton, New York, United States

Lasata is an estate in East Hampton, New York, that was the childhood summer home of the future First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis until she was about 12.

<i>Grey Gardens</i> (2009 film) 2009 HBO film directed by Michael Sucsy

Grey Gardens is a 2009 American biographical drama television film about the lives of Edith Bouvier "Little Edie" Beale, played by Drew Barrymore, and her mother Edith Ewing "Big Edie" Bouvier, played by Jessica Lange. Co-stars include Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jacqueline Kennedy, Little Edie's cousin, and Ken Howard as Phelan Beale, Little Edie's father. The film, directed by Michael Sucsy and co-written by Sucsy and Patricia Rozema, flashes back and forth between various events and dates ranging from Little Edie as a young débutante in 1936 moving with her mother to their Grey Gardens estate through the filming and premiere of the actual 1975 documentary Grey Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phelan Beale</span> American lawyer

Phelan Beale was an American attorney and sportsman in New York City who was married to Edith Ewing Bouvier, an aunt of former First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Beale is probably best remembered as the absent father chronicled in the Grey Gardens saga portrayed in a 1975 movie documentary, 2006 Broadway musical, and 2009 HBO film, all of which were named for his home in East Hampton, New York.

Phelan Beale Jr. was an American journalist and unemployment compensation law expert. He was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens. He was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

Bouvier Beale was an American lawyer. Beale was one of the sons of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and was also a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale, whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens. Beale was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey Gardens (estate)</span> House in East Hampton, New York

Grey Gardens is a 14-room house at 3 West End Road and Lily Pond Lane in the Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York. It was the residence of the Beale family from 1924 to 1979, including mother and daughter Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale from 1952 to 1977. The 1975 documentary Grey Gardens depicted the two living in squalor in the mansion; the highly regarded film spawned a 2006 Broadway musical, a 2009 television movie, and other adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dennis Phelan</span> American judge

John Dennis Phelan was an American editor, politician and jurist. He served as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Nina Gore Auchincloss Straight is an American author, journalist, and socialite. She is the mother of writer/director Burr Steers and artist Hugh Auchincloss Steers, half-sister of Gore Vidal, step-sister of First Lady Jacqueline Onassis and socialite Princess Lee Radziwill.

Lewis Polk Rutherfurd is an American-born financier who lives in Hong Kong. He was married to Janet Jennings Auchincloss, the half-sister of First Lady Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier from 1966 until her death in 1985. In 1989, he married Katharine duPont Sanger, the granddaughter of Lammot du Pont II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vernou Bouvier Jr.</span> American lawyer (1866–1948)

John Vernou Bouvier Jr. was an American Wall Street lawyer and stockbroker who was a patriarch of the Bouvier family. He was the father of John Vernou Bouvier III as well as a grandfather of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and socialites Princess Lee Radziwill and Edith Bouvier Beale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James T. Lee</span> American lawyer, banker, and real estate investor (1877–1968)

James Thomas Lee was an American lawyer, banker, and real estate investor. He was the maternal grandfather of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Sr. was an American merchant and businessman who was prominent in New York society.

References

  1. "Francis A. Drexel weds Emma Bouvier". Sisters Of The Blessed Sacrament. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  2. Davis, John H. (1969). The Bouviers; portrait of an American family. Internet Archive. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
  3. Gray, Christopher (1995-03-12). "Streetscapes/Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's Grandfather; Quality Developer With a Legacy of Fine Buildings". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  4. Pottker, Jan (2002). Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Macmillan. pp. 48–50. ISBN   0-312-30281-9.
  5. Latham, Caroline (1989). The Kennedy encyclopedia : an A-to-Z illustrated guide to America's royal family. Internet Archive. New York : NAL Books. ISBN   978-0-453-00684-2.