Marriage to Helen Varner in Albuquerque, N.M., comes as a surprise
Albuquerque, New Mex. (Reuters) January 4, 1935
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., 36-year-old journalist and former publisher, and Miss Helen Varner of Clarksburg, W. Va., were married by a justice of peace at the county court house here today. Mr. Vanderbilt's two previous marriages ended in divorce. It was Miss Varner's second marriage.
The bride arrived here yesterday from her home in Clarksburg and was joined this afternoon by Mr. Vanderbilt. The couple met here three years ago, Mr. Vanderbilt said. Both were engaged in their chosen work while living here, he said. The bride making sketches and "I was doing some writing," he said. "We decided to be married here because it seemed more romantic," the bride told reporters.
The bride is the 26-year-old daughter of Mrs. H.V. Varner of Clarksburg. Her father, who died ten years ago, was Dr. H.V. Varner, a physician. By a previous marriage she was Mrs. Noah Anderson.
The Vanderbilt's will leave by train tomorrow for Williams, Ariz., and the Grand Canyon. Later they will go to his ranch forty miles north of Reno, where he has been writing a novel. There had been no engagement announcement or report of an impending marriage between Mr. Vanderbilt and the former Miss Varner.
This is Mr. Vanderbilt's third marriage. His first marriage to Miss Rachel Littleton of Chattanooga, Tenn., ended in divorce in November, 1927. His divorced wife was later married to Jasper Morgan. a nephew of J. Pierpont Morgan. Mrs. Mary Weir Logan, formerly of Chicago, was Mr. Vanderbilt's second wife. Their marriage which took place in Reno in July 1928, ended in divorce in August 1931.
Simultaneously with the report of Mr. Vanderbilt's marriage in New Mexico, it was learned last night that Mrs. Logan Vanderbilt has been married since June 20 to Thomas B. Brett of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Brett have been residing for the last three months at 33 Sutton Place South during the summer and autumn made their home in Vermont.
Miss Joan Logan, Mrs. Brett's daughter by her marriage to Waldo Hancock Logan, was the only witness to the marriage. Mr. Brett was born in England. He first came to this country in 1913. During the World War he served with the Canadian Royal Flying Corps, and later was transferred to the Second Division of the United States Army. He for some time lived in Mexico, D.F., where he was connected with an aviation concern.
Phoenix, Ariz. (AP) January 4, 1935
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., member of a wealthy and prominent New York family, and a well-known journalist and former publisher, and Miss Helen Varner of Clarksburg, W VA., were married by a justice of peace at the Bernalillo County Court House in Albuquerque this afternoon.
The new Mrs. Vanderbilt came to the city from her home in Clarksburg and was joined this afternoon by Vanderbilt. The couple walked from their hotel uptown to the courthouse this afternoon, procured a license from the county clerk and then inquired where they could find a justice of the peace. They were directed across the hall of the building to the office of L. Tartaglia, Justice of the Peace. Speedily, arrangements were made for the ceremony. A constable and the sister of the justice of the peace were witnesses as the vows were read.
The wedding was the culmination of a romance that began here three years ago, Vanderbilt revealed. Both were engaged in their chosen work while sojourning here. "Mrs. Vanderbilt was making sketches, and I was doing some writing," he said. "We decided to be married here, because it seemed more romantic," Mrs. Vanderbilt told a reporter.
Mrs. Vanderbilt is the daughter of Mrs. H.V. Varner of Clarksburg, W VA. Her father who died some 10 years ago, was Dr. H.V. Varner, a physician. By a previous marriage the bride was Mrs. Noah Anderson.
She gave her age as 26. She is slender, of short stature and has dark hair and eyes.
The Vanderbilt's will spend the night in Albuquerque, and leave by train tomorrow for Williams, where Vanderbilt was forced to leave his car en route to Albuquerque because he said he had been warned the snow was too deep for driving. After reaching Williams, they will motor to the Grand Canyon, where they will spend a short honeymoon.
Vanderbilt was divorced at Reno, August 4, 1931, from Mary Weir Vanderbilt. who charged cruelty.
Vanderbilt in 1928, relinquished $2,000,000. of his inheritance, part from his paternal grandfather, the late Cornelius Vanderbilt, toward re-paying stockholders in his bankrupt publishing enterprises. He told a Los Angeles judge three years later his total fortune consisted of $120.00.
New York, Jan 4 (AP)
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., married for a third time at Albuquerque, New Mex. today. Mr. Vanderbilt is the son of Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt, and was a newspaper publisher until his family refused to continue financing his journalistic ventures in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. He broke with his family in 1925, but two years later he reconciled. A $1,000,000. check was said to have been his Christmas present that year. Vanderbilt has been writing newspaper articles and books since he closed down his publishing establishments. In 1931, Vanderbilt and Peter Arno, the artist, drew attention after Vanderbilt accused Arno of breaking up his home. Arno said Vanderbilt threw a blackjack at him.
Vanderbilt married Rachel Littleton in 1920. In 1927 they were divorced. He said, "we were just mis-mated." He married Mary Weir Logan in 1928. They were divorced three years later. The new Mrs. Vanderbilt will honeymoon with her husband at the Grand Canyon and Palm Springs.
I have discovered that Cornelius and Helen spent part of their honeymoon at the now historic Boulder Dam Hotel in Boulder City, Nevada. They stayed here in route from the Grand Canyon to their ranch in Reno Nevada. I have found the record of this visit in the guest registry on the hotel's website.
Justice Officiates- Directed to the office of Justice L.M. Tartaglia, across the hall, they speedily made arrangements for a simple marriage ceremony. Constable John Rogers laid aside an afternoon paper he was reading, and Mrs. Frank Gregorio, sister of the judge, who was visiting in the office, acted as official witnesses. They were the only persons in the office. No humble couple was ever married in Albuquerque more unostentatiously. "We intended to be married by a minister," Vanderbilt said. "But both of us had been married previously, and we were unable to find a clergyman to perform the ceremony."
Prominent New Yorker- Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt III, was educated in New York. He served overseas during the World War and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre. After the war he engaged in newspaper work, and became head of a chain of newspapers. He published tabloid papers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and was reputed to have lost a fortune in the venture.
3rd Marriage- The marriage here was Vanderbilt's third. He has been divorced from Rachel Littleton Vanderbilt and Mary Weir Logan Vanderbilt. He is a relative (cousin) of little Gloria Vanderbilt, whose name has appeared frequently in the press in connection with the fight between her mother and her aunt in her custody. He laughed when told several curious bystanders in the Court House corridor were wondering if he is Gloria's father. (actually his father is Gloria's Uncle.)
Novel as Serial- For the past four years, Vanderbilt has devoted his attention to writing. He has a novel running in the Saturday Evening Post, "Farewell to Fifth Avenue," which will be published soon in book form, and is working on another novel. While here writing in October 1931, he met Miss Varner, who had come here to get material for her drawings. The new Mrs. Vanderbilt, is the daughter of Mrs. H.V. Varner of Clarksburg. Her father a physician, died about ten years ago. By a previous marriage she was Mrs. Noah Anderson. Anderson is coach of Central Junior High School athletic teams at Clarksburg, and former West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon. Their divorce occurred three years ago.
Divorced in 1931- Vanderbilt was divorced in Reno, August 4, 1931, from Mary Weir Vanderbilt, who charged cruelty. Property rights were announced as being "amicably settled." The couple had separated the previous June when Vanderbilt became incensed over attentions Peter Arno, caricaturist, had paid Mrs. Vanderbilt. Arno and Vanderbilt met several times, and Vanderbilt reported he had been "knocked down twice by Arno, when he left Reno." Ten years ago Vanderbilt engaged in publishing a Los Angeles tabloid newspaper. It was placed in receivership and sold, and Vanderbilt since that time had been engaged principally in private writing. Vanderbilt in 1923, relinquished two million dollars of his inheritance-part from his paternal grandfather, the late Cornelius Vanderbilt II, toward repaying his stockholders in his bankruptcy publishing enterprises. He told a Los Angeles judge three years later his total fortune consisted of $120.00. (Vanderbilt always was good at hiding his net worth)
Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt will reach Hollywood, Calif., in a few weeks, where the former will assist in the production of his latest book, "Farewell to Fifth Avenue." Mr. Vanderbilt's "A Woman In Washington," is being filmed and is in the third week of production.
Mrs. Vanderbilt, the former Miss Helen Varner of Clarksburg, W.Va., is an illustrator of note.
Returns From 6 Weeks Visit in Europe With Her Mother, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt
New York City, NY., November 25, 1935
Mrs. Henry Gassaway Davis, the former Grace Vanderbilt, sister to Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., who returned on the Europa last night with her mother Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, after a visit of about six weeks abroad, declined to discuss a published report that she will seek a divorce from her husband.
Mrs. Vanderbilt, Mrs. Davis's mother was equally reticent.
Mr. Davis was not at the pier, as far as was learned. Brigadier General Vanderbilt was there to greet his wife, also their son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., writer and former newspaper publisher, who came here a few weeks ago from Reno, and against whom it is reported, his third wife, the former Helen Varner, is contemplating proceedings for divorce.
Previously to her sailing for Europe, reports had been current that Mrs. Davis had separated from her husband, who is also a member of a socially prominent family.
Questioned on the possibility of Mrs. Helen Varner Vanderbilt seeking a divorce from Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Max D. Steuer, the latter's counsel, would say nothing beyond: "All I know is that Mr. Vanderbilt is staying here, at his parents' home, and his wife is in the South." Their separation was reported from Reno early in the month.
Mrs. Vanderbilt is said to be at the home of her mother, Mrs. H.V. Varner, in Clarksburg, W.Va., where she has been quoted as denying that either she or her husband were considering a divorce.
Mrs. Davis was entered on the Europa's passenger list as Mrs. Grace V. Davis. She was accompanied by her young daughter, who was listed as Miss Grace Davis. Her marriage to Mr. Davis, a grandson and namesake of Henry Gassaway Davis, occurred on June 28, 1927.
They Will Honor Daughter, Mrs. Vanderbilt Davis, in Their Newport Home
Newport, Rhode Island, September 24, 1936
Mrs. Vanderbilt Davis, who will celebrate her birthday tomorrow, entertained with a picnic luncheon at Bailey's Beach this afternoon. Brigadier General and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, her parents, returned from New York last night and will give a dinner in her honor at Beaulieu, their residence, tomorrow. Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., a brother of Mrs. Davis is a week-end guest.
Wife and Daughter Entertain for Him at Newport With a Family Dinner
Newport, Rhode Island, September 5, 1937
Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt, 64 years old today, was feted at a birthday dinner tonight at Beaulieu, given by Mrs. Vanderbilt, who was assisted by their daughter, Mrs. Vanderbilt Davis, and their son Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. Among the guests were all the Vanderbilt family now here.
Asks Divorce From His Third Wife in Nevada
Carson City, Nevada, February 29, 1940
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., writer, filed suit today to divorce Mrs. Helen Varner Vanderbilt.
Mr. Vanderbilt, newspaper and magazine writer and former publisher, and the former Helen Varner of Clarksburg, W. Va., were married to Albuquerque, N.M., on Jan. 4, 1935. They had met there three years before while Mr. Vanderbilt was writing a novel and Miss Varner was sketching.
The marriage was Mr. Vanderbilt's third. His first marriage, to Miss Rachel Littleton of Chattanooga, Tenn., ended in divorce in November, 1927. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Weir Logan, former wife of Waldo Logan, son of a Chicago stock broker. They were married in Reno, in July 1928, and were divorced in August, 1931.
Mr. Vanderbilt, who is a resident of Nevada and formerly lived on a ranch forty miles north of Reno, has been on a lecture tour of the country, speaking on his experiences in Europe before the outbreak of the war. Mrs. Vanderbilt is the daughter of Mrs. H.V. Varner of Clarksburg and the late Dr. Varner, a physician. Her marriage to Mr. Vanderbilt was her second. Her first husband was Noah Anderson.
Carson City, Nevada, May 2, 1940
A general demurrer to the divorce complaint filed last Feb. 29 by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. against his third wife, Helen Varner Vanderbilt, has been filed for Mrs. Vanderbilt and the case will be contested. Alan Bible, attorney, said today that the "next move will be up to Vanderbilt's lawyers." Mr. Vanderbilt charged separation for more than three years in filing the suit. He and Mrs. Vanderbilt, formerly of Clarksburg, W. Va., were married Jan. 4, 1935, at Albuquerque, N.M.
Reno, Nevada. May 28, 1940
An answer was filed today in District Court at Carson City by Mrs. Helen Varner Vanderbilt to the divorce action filed Feb. 29 by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. The answer includes a cross-complaint charging cruelty. Mr. Vanderbilt had alleged three years of separation. They were married in Albuquerque Jan. 4, 1935. An allegation of prejudice has taken the case out of the hands of Judge Clark J. Guild and Judge Edgar Eather of Eureka County will conduct the trial here.
Carson City, Nevada, June 6, 1940
District Judge Edgar Eather today awarded to Mrs. Helen Varner Vanderbilt temporary alimony of $250 a month pending trial of a divorce suit brought by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. on Feb. 29. The court also granted her $250 preliminary counsel fees and expenses from Clarksburg, W. Va., to Carson City to contest the case.
Settlement Made by Cornelius Jr., in His Third Nevada Decree
Reno, Nevada December 18, 1940
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. obtained a divorce this afternoon at Carson City from Mrs. Helen Varner Vanderbilt on the ground of three years of separation. Mrs. Vanderbilt was represented in court by counsel, but nothing was offered in her behalf other than her plea for separate maintenance. The details of the property settlement were sealed. The two were married at Albuquerque, N.M., Jan. 4, 1935.
This is the third Nevada divorce for Mr. Vanderbilt.
TODAY IN RENO
Reno, Nevada, September 2, 1946
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., journalist and the son of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and the late General Vanderbilt, will marry here tomorrow Maria Feliza Pablos, heiress to a vast cattle estate in Mexico. It will be the fourth for Mr. Vanderbilt.
Senorita Pablos is a grand-niece of Porifirio Diaz, for many years the President of Mexico. Her grandfather was Dr. Castillo Najera, former Mexican Ambassador to the Washington. She was educated in Rome and the University of Mexico.
Samuel Platt, the prospective bridegroom's attorney, will serve as the best man. Yvonne Rosson of Paris will be the matron of honor. Other attendants will be Senora Marie Gomez, widow of the former Presidential candidate, and Mrs. Jack Cummings, former wife of the Hollywood motion picture producer.
The Rev. Brewster Adams, Baptist minister, will perform the ceremony at the Platt residence.
Mr. Vanderbilt married Rachel Littleton in 1920. The union ended in divorce seven years later. His subsequent marriages, to Mrs. Mary Weir Logan in 1928, and Mrs. Helen Varner in 1935, were terminated in divorce in 1931 and 1940, respectively.
Broke Family Tradition, Became a Reporter
in Very Difficult Times
Miami Beach, Florida, July 7, 1974
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., author and former newspaperman, died here today at his home. He was 76 years old. Mr. Vanderbilt was married seven times. He is survived by his widow, the former Mary Lou Gardner Bristol. Six earlier marriages ended in divorce.
Broke Family Tradition
Mr. Vanderbilt spent much of his life trying to live down the fact that he was a rich man's son.
In the nineteen-twenties and thirties he frequently made headlines as a democratic and adventurous member of one of New York's wealthiest and most distinguished families.
His lively career began when he was just out of his teens. Against the wishes of his family he broke away from the luxury and traditions in which he had been reared and struck out for himself as a newspaper writer and author and later as a newspaper publisher.Mr. Vanderbilt founded and published three tabloid dailies that were financial failures. As a newspaper feature writer he "exposed" his own set--New York and Newport society. One of his ventures--which caused his name to be stricken from the Social Register--was the publication in 1935 of his memoirs, entitled "A Farewell to Fifth Avenue." In this he again "exposed" society and told of his adventures among the great and near-great.
In an article published in The Saturday Evening Post early in his writing career, he wrote that he had found that a rich man's son bent on making a name for himself had a very difficult time; that he was condemned before he had begun to achieve. "The most difficult thing I have found in my individual case," he said, "is that of trying forever to convince everybody that I am in earnest." As a reporter he interviewed celebrities here and abroad. His name gained entree for him into high circles in spite of his renegade career. His pockets filled with deputy sheriff cards from counties from here to California, "Neely" (sp) Vanderbilt, as the tabloids called him, frequently sped across the country in his high-powered car in search of news. Soon he began to lecture on his experiences and on social and political subjects, drawing large fees and large audiences. Expressing a "fanatical devotion" to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he worked for him during his first campaign. Mr. Vanderbilt interviewed Al Capone in Chicago. Capone, according to Mr. Vanderbilt, said: "Here I am, Public Enemy Number One, the meal-ticket of shyster lawyers and bum reporters and who am I with all of it? Just a piker. The real graft goes to the bankers, to your dad's friends. Isn't it true?" "It depends on what you call graft," Mr. Vanderbilt said he replied. Born in New York on April 30, 1898, he was the son of Cornelius and Grace Graham Wilson Vanderbilt. His father was a great grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the ferryboat pioneer who founded the family fortune. His mother was the daughter of a prominent Southern family, the Richard T. Wilsons, who lived in New York.
Educated at private schools, he was "watched by a number of nurses, tutors, companions, detectives and guardians" all the time, he said in his memoirs. Before he was 16 he had crossed the Atlantic 38 times. He met Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, King George V of England and King Alfonso of Spain.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Mr. Vanderbilt was 19. He tried twice to enlist but, always frail, was rejected. Later he joined the 102nd Ammunition Train and then became a dispatch driver with the 27th Division. He was a private all through the war. From 1920 to 1923 he was a lieutenant in the Reserve. A captain in the National Guard from 1923 to 1927, he was a Reserve major until 1942. Instead of going to college after the war, Mr. Vanderbilt became a reporter, starting on The New York Herald. In 1920 he was a legislative correspondent in Albany for The New York Times. For some months in 1921 he was stationed in Washington for The Times. In 1923 he became a newspaper publisher. He had three tabloids, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. They were not successful financially, and ultimately went into the hands of New York bankers. When the elder Vanderbilt died in 1942, he left his son one-quarter of the residuary estate, in trust. But the will specified that $910,000 was to be deducted from the trust fund to pay back money advanced to Mr. Vanderbilt by his father for his newspaper projects. After the newspaper enterprises failed, Mr. Vanderbilt went to live in Reno, where he operated a ranch and wrote articles about the divorce colony. In 1937 he went abroad to report the wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson in France. He took a trailer to Europe. The trailer, with its bar and shower bath, was a sensation in London when he arrived there to report the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Always interested in auto travel, Mr. Vanderbilt was president of the American Trailer Association. In World War II, he was a major in the intelligence section of the Army, stationed in this country. In the post-war years, Mr. Vanderbilt was a travel columnist for The New York Post and for Affiliated News Features. His books also included "Lines From the Front Lines," 1918; "The Gas Attack," 1919; "Experiences of a Cub Reporter," 1920; "Reno," 1927; "Park Avenue," 1928; "Palm Beach," 1929; "A Woman of Washington," 1937; "Filthy Rich," 1939; and "The Living Post of American," 1955.
Man About Town
New York City
February 26, 1940
C. Vanderbilt, Jr., shortly!"
fall of 1937, Death Valley, California,
Rosie Armijo Collection. To the right, Helen is shown in a Vanderbilt press photo.
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