Lilian Tucker

Lilian Tucker

(Charles’ first wife, later Elsie Tucker)

 9/21/1894 – 3-1-1972

9-21-1894: Lilian Tucker was born to a Norwegian mother and English father the day after her parents arrived there from Europe. Her mother was a talented concert singer, and Lilian inherited her beautiful voice.

1904: Lilian, at the age of 17 joined George M. Cohan’s musical comedy company in Chicago and began her career as an actress and soprano, rising quickly from the chorus to prima donna parts. She built a successful and established stage career including a two year tour in Australia. She later became widely acclaimed for her leading role in Three Faces East which ran for a full season in Chicago in 1920, and also appeared in a little over a half dozen silent films, although none were big box office hits. Lilian was “said to be one of the most beautiful women in America” and “had been described by artists and sculptors in this country and abroad as the typical Greek Goddess.” Upon completion of The Cave Girl Lilian dropped her first name and adopted her character’s name of Elsie, which she not only used informally but also on formal documents such as passports.

10-29-1921: Charles H. Duell and Lilian Tucker were married

1-24-1924: A divorce was granted to Lilian (Tucker) Duell in Paris on grounds of desertion

Charles Holland Duell Jr

Charles Holland Duell Jr.

(Holland’s brother)

2/2/1889 – 6/20/1954

2-2-1889: Charles Holland Duell Jr. was born was born in Syracuse, N.Y. to Charles Holland Duell Sr. and Harriett (Sackett) Duell.

1907: Charles H Duell Jr. attended Yale, but dropped out at the end of his senior year in 1908 to attend New York Law School.

1912: Charles Holland Duell Jr. worked on the secretarial staff in Theodore Roosevelt’s run for presidency.

10-14-1912: Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chestwhile campaigning in Milwaukee. Roosevelt was seriously wounded but, because the bullet passed first through a 50 page speech in his front pocket as well as through his metal eyeglass case, he was not killed. Charles H Duell who was working on Roosevelt’s secretarial staff was present during the attempted assassination.

1913: Charles H Duell Jr. was admitted to the bar

1913: Charles Holland Duell Jr. joined his father’s law firm of Duell, Warfield and Duell.

1914: Charles Holland Duell Jr. left the law firm of Duell, Warfield and Duell and moved to Washington.

3-10-1914: Charles H Duell Jr. helped to support District Attorney Charles S. Whitman (whom he had previously worked for) as a candidate for New York Governor, to appear on both the Progressive Party and Republican tickets. Whitman asked Duell to convince Roosevelt to endorse him for Governor. Roosevelt distrusted Whitman, and Duell expended an enormous amount of time and energy trying to broker a peace between the two. Duell also made very strong personal public endorsement of his own for Whitman. Everything blew up in Charles Duell’s face when it was revealed that Whitman was simply pretending to be loyal to the Progressive Party in order to get the Roosevelt endorsement. The scandal was in the press. Duell was right in the middle of it and in the end he did a 180 and publicly condemned Whitman as a liar. Duell continued in politics, although never on the same level.

1917: Charles H Duell served in the US Navy as a lieutenant on the SS Destroyer Wickes operating out of a base in Queenstown, Ireland.

5-3-1919: Commander Charles H Duell Jr. was a delegate at large for the newly formed American Legion, a national organization of Veterans of the World War.

3-1921: Charles H Duell Jr, Richard Barthelmess and successful west coast director Henry King  joined together to form the motion picture company Inspiration Pictures, of which Duell was president. (I would love to find out more about Inspiration Pictures, and specifically how Charles got drawn into the film business) The first movie produced was “The Cave Girl.” Charles fell in love with one of the actresses, former Broadway star Lilian Tucker, and shortly after the two were married. (I have read mention, by author Charles Affron, that prior to meeting Charles Duell, Lilian Tucker knew Lillian Gish. Does anyone know any details of their friendship / relationship?)

After wooing unemployed actress Lillian Gish, Charles succeeded in hiring both her and her sister Dorothy. The first film he stared Lillian in was the blockbuster “The White Sister.”  An affair developed between Charles and Lillian. Charles divorced his first wife and became engaged to Lillian Gish. However Lillian left Charles shortly after completion of their next big movie “Romola.” She refused to work for him. In 1925 he filed a breach of contract suit, but it backfired on him in court and he lost everything.

9-30-1933: Charles H Duell Jr. married Edith E Brisbane daughter of Charles Wallace and Margret Brisbane, and supervised the manufacture of a dispensing container she invented. He became president of Brisbane Box Corporation.

6-20-1954: Charles H Duell died at Circle Terrace Hospital, Alexandria, VA following a heart attack a week earlier.  

Harriett Maria Sackett

(Charles H Duell Sr.’s wife)

9/12/1854 –  11/6/1916

9-12-1854: Born in Seneca Falls Harriett Maria Sackett was the great granddaughter of Major John Buttrick whose militia of farmers repelled the British at Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775.

Harriet Maria Sackett was first cousins withElihu Root (lawyer, recipient of Nobel peace prize, US senator, US secretary of War, Secretary of State)

11-20-1879: Charles Holland Duell married Harriet Maria Sackett.

11-6-1916: Harriett (Sackett) Duell, the wife of Charles Holland Duell Sr., died at her son, Holland Duell’s home, Ardenwold, in Yonkers

Charles Holland Duell Sr.

Charles Holland Duell Sr.

(Holland’s father)

4/13/1850 – 1/29/1920

4-13-1850: Charles Holland Duell was born in Cortland, New York to Rodolphus Holland Duell and Mary Ledyard (Cuyler) Duell

1872: Charles Holland Duell began practicing law in New York City under the firm of Duell, Wells & Duell.

1878-1880: Charles Holland Duell Sr. was elected to represent the 13th district of New York in the State Assembly.

11-20-1879: Charles Holland Duell married Harriet Maria Sackett, she was the daughter of Judge Sackett of Seneca Falls.

1880, summer: Charles Holland Duell moved to Syracuse and specialized in patent law

1-29-1881: Holland Sackett Duell was born

3-28-1882: William Sackett Duell Born

2-1885: Mary Louise Duell is born

2-2-1889: Charles Holland Duell Jr. was born

1898-1901: Charles Holland Duell Sr. moved from Syracuse to Washington to serve as the United States commissioner of patents.

1-1-1901: Charles Holland Duell published his book “Patents”.

5-21-1901: Charles Holland Duell and family move into their new residence in the Hotel Majestic in Manhattan. Charles starteda new law firm in New York City under the name “Duell, Megrath & Warfield”

1904: Charles Holland Duell was the assistant treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

1904-1906: Charles Holland Duell was the associate justice of the court of appeals of the District of Columbia.

1908: Charles Holland Duell was a presidential “Elector” and president of the Taft New York Electoral College. He received the highest vote cast for any elector.

1910: Charles Holland Duell was treasurer of the Republican Congressional Committee in 1910

1911: Charles Holland Duell was treasurer of the Republican Congressional Committee in 1911

6-2-1912: Charles Holland Duell was chairman of the Roosevelt campaign committee of New York City.

11-6-1916: Harriett (Sackett) Duell, the wife of Charles Holland Duell Sr., died at her son, Holland Duell’s home, Ardenwold, in Yonkers

1-29-1920: Charles Holland Duell died at Holland Duell’s home Ardenwold. He had lived there for the past year after suffering a stroke and partial paralysis. He was a brilliant lawyer, quick witted with an engaging personality. He made friends and admirers throughout his entire lifetime.

Ruth Alice Cole

Ruth Alice Cole

(Charles E Halliwell’s second  wife)  

12/29/1875 – 8/30/1940

12-29-1875: Born in Hawley, Pennsylvania to Mr. & Mrs. Matthias Cole.

10ish-1905: Ruth Alice Cole was Charles Halliwell’s nurse for an extended period of time following his operation for appendicitis.

10-4-1906: Charles E. Halliwell married  Ruth Alice Cole at all Angeles Church in Manhattan. She had been his nurse (22 years younger). The press referred to her as “The Pretty Nurse.”

5-6-1907: Charles E. Halliwell died of a cerebral hemorrhage and, after only seven months of marriage, Ruth Alice, who previously had been an unknown in New York, was worth 1.25 million dollars.

2-26-1909: Ruth Alice Halliwell married Charles Halliwel’s former business partner and close friend, William Porter at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. They lived in luxury at the 20 story Plaza Hotel on Manhattan’s 5^th Avenue. They also owned a large track of land in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey where William had built his country home. It was a large stone and wood beamed structure, what many called a castle, which William had named Foxcroft because it sat atop Fox Mountain.

5-25-1911: Ruth Alice was widowed a second time in 1911. William Porter and three of his stock exchange friends were being driven by chauffeur from Foxcroft towards his office in Manhattan. William was critically injured in a car accident and died a week later.

8-7-1913: Ruth Alice (Cole) Porter married her third husband, Warren Clark Van Slyke, a New York attorney, at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

6-3-1916: Ruth Alice Van Slyke departed New York for war relief in France and England

8-11-1917: Ruth Alice Van Slyke departed New York bound for France aboard the Espange. She will do war work as an auxiliary nurse for the “American Girls Aid” which established a hospital in France the previous month on the western front.

4-1922: Warren Van Slyke acted as counsel for relatives of the Lusitania victims and argued claims against Germany for damages.

4-7-1925: Warren Clark Van Slyke died at Roosevelt hospital in Manhattan following an operation for gallstones. He was 51.

8-30-1940: Ruth Alice Van Slyke died at her estate Foxcroft.

Today the overgrown ruins provide an interesting hiking destination.