Sister-in-law,
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.'s sister, Grace
Married to Robert L. Stevens by New Jersey Judge in Library of His Home
ONLY 3 OTHERS PRESENT
Reception Held in New York by Her Parents, Gen. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt
July 15, 1938
Mrs. Grace Vanderbilt Davis, only daughter of the Brig. Gen. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, was married to Robert Livingston Stevens yesterday afternoon in Ridgewood, N.J. The ceremony was performed at 3:15 o'clock by Judge Thomas L. Zimmerman Jr. of the Bergen County Juvenile Court and the Court of Domestic Relations, in the library of his home.
The bride arrived first at the judge's home in her automobile accompanied by Frank Lyon Polk, an old friend of her father, who is a member of the law firm of Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardner and Reed, and one-time Corporation Counsel of New York and Under-Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration.
They were followed closely by Mr. Stevens and his sister, Mrs. Mary Stevens Baird, in his car. Mrs. Baird and Mr. Polk were the witnesses for the couple. The only other person present was Mrs. Zimmerman, wife of the judge. Mr. Stevens is a client and old friend of Judge Zimmermen.
The bride wore an afternoon costume of blue with a matching hat, and a shoulder corsage of white orchids. The men wore boutonnieres of gardenias.
After the ceremony Mr. Stevens, his bride, Mrs. Baird and Mr. Polk motored to the home of General and Mrs. Vanderbilt, 640 Fifth Avenue, for the reception. Owing to the mourning in the Vanderbilt family, this was restricted to a few near relatives and friends.
These included an aunt of the bride, Mrs. Harry Payne (Gertrude) Whitney, who made the trip from Newport with General Vanderbilt on his yacht, the Winchester, especially for the reception; William H. Vanderbilt, a cousin, and Mrs. Vanderbilt, who also came from Newport; another cousin, Mrs. G. Macculloch Miller and Mr. Miller, and Mrs. Robert L. Stevens, mother of the bridegroom, who came from her Summer home in Bernardsville, N.J.
The floral decorations in the Vanderbilt home were very simple, only a few vases of Summer flowers being placed about the drawing rooms on the first floor, on the mantels and tables. The house has been closed since last month when the family went to Newport for the summer, and only those two rooms were opened yesterday for the reception.
While the engagement of the former Mrs. Davis to Mr. Stevens had been rumored for some time, there had been no formal announcement. Mr. Stevens spent the Fouth of July week-end at Beaulieu, Newport,
with General and Mrs. Vanderbilt and their daughter.
The bride a descendant of of Commodore Vanderbilt, founder of the family fortune, is granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and the late Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Wilson and the sister of Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. She is the former wife of Henry Gassaway Davis 3d, to whom she was married in 1927. They were divorced two years ago. There is a daughter Cornelia, by that marriage. Some time later Mr. Davis married a cousin of the bride, Mrs. Consuelo Vanderbilt Smith, former wife of Earl E.T. Smith.
Mr. Stevens also has been previously married. In the 1928 he married Miss Elizabeth Ogden Woodward, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Woodward. Their marriage terminated in divorce in 1935.
Mr. Stevens, a member of the Stevens family of Hoboken, N.J., that founded the Stevens Institute of Technology, the son of the late Mr. Stevens and grandson of the late Edwin A. Stevens and the late Stephen Whitney.
Sedona Legend Helen Frye