Major Elizur Yale Smith (1885 – 1950) was an American paper manufacturer, military officer, socialite, author and historian from New York. He served in the American Legion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I, and became executive secretary of the Federal Hall in Manhattan, which he helped save with a consortium. He was prominent in Newport society during the late Gilded Age, along with his wife, Mrs. Annie Livingston Best, daughter of Col. Clermont L. Best. He was also one of the heirs of his father, millionaire Wellington Smith, and a friend of the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts in New York.
Early life
Elizur Yale Smith was born on May 7, 1885, in Lee, Massachusetts, to Anne Maria Bullard and Wellington Smith, members of the Yale family.The Boston Globe, Thu, Apr 28, 1910 ·Page 2Newport Mercury, Sat, Nov 10, 1906 ·Page 1 His father was the son of Parthenia Caroline Yale, granddaughter of Capt. Josiah Yale of the American War of Independence, and was a cousin of Rev. Theodore Yale Gardner and Cleveland mayor George W. Gardner, who made his fortune as a commodity dealer with the young John D. Rockefeller.All 50 mayors in Cleveland history -- and their claim to fame, Cleveland, Peter Krouse, July 25, 2017 His great-granduncle was Rev. Cyrus Yale, who was involved in the temperance movement with Stephen Van Rensselaer, member of the Dutch Van Rensselaer family.The Missionary Herald, Volume 30, Harvard Divinity School, Crocker and Brewster, 1834, p. 266
His father, Wellington Smith, was the largest paper manufacturer in the United States, coproprietor of the Smith Paper Company with Elizur's granduncle, Senator Elizur Smith, and died a millionaire in 1910.Transcript-Telegram, Thu, Apr 28, 1910 ·Page 4FOLDING BED VICTIM PAPERMAKER OF LEE; Dead Man Was Wellington Smith, a Wealthy Massachusetts Manufacturer, The New York Times, April 28, 1910 Elizur's father was also involved in politics, and was a personal friend of President William McKinley, and knew intimately Abraham Lincoln, whom he visited several times at his residence at the White House.Carbondale Daily News, Thu, Apr 28, 1910 ·Page 1The Boston Globe, Fri, Feb 12, 1909 ·Page 16
Before his father's death, Wellington had sold the 700 acres family equestrian estate in Lee, Massachusetts, to George Westinghouse, the competitor of Thomas Edison, and to William D. Sloane and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt, on which they would build Elm Court.Separation of Elizur Yale Smith & Annie Best, The Washington Post Washington, District of Columbia, May 8, 1908, p. 12.The Monster Barn At High Lawn, The Berkshire Eagle, Bernard A. Drew, March 21, 2008
Biography
Smith attended a private school in Boston, and then enrolled at Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1907.Calgary Herald, Tue, Dec 05, 1916 ·Page 11 He thereafter left Williams before graduation to attend Columbia University. He studied in early American history and genealogy, with added interest on New York and New England. He would become eventually an antiquarian and historian of the Bill of Rights Commemorative Society.
He then joined for four or five years the 7th Regiment of the National Guards of New York. He later joined the 15th Canadian Light Horse of the Canadian Militia, and became a clerk for the Supreme Court Chambers of Alberta and Calgary. Smith worked at the Smith Paper Company for his father, with their headquarters at 18 Beekman Street, Manhattan, close to the Temple Court Building.The Boston Globe, Thu, Apr 28, 1910 ·Page 2 Smith became a paper manufacturer and was made the Western manager of the company, while his brother, Augustus Smith, became its vice-president, and later, assumed the presidency.The Berkshire County Eagle, Wed, Jan 04, 1950 ·Page 8 They would grow the enterprise in various fields, including the manufacturing of cigarette paper.
In 1907, Yale Smith married to Annie Livingston Best on November 6, at Grace Church, Manhattan, who was the daughter of Col. Clermont Livingston Best, and a descendant of the Livingston family.Papa Bear’s second wife, Baby Best's Long Quest of a Perfect Man, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 02 Aug 1925, p. 87 Her uncle was Gabriel Mead Tooker, and her cousin was Mrs. Tooker Whitney Warren, wife of the architect of Grand Central Terminal of the Vanderbilts. They were all members of Mrs. Astor's Four Hundred during the Gilded Age.Lewiston Evening Teller, Tuesday, Nov 19, 1907 ·Page 2
Smith's best man at the wedding was Dr. Smith Hollins McKim, husband of millionaire Margaret Emerson, who later remarried to Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and became the mother of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr.The Baltimore Sun, Thu, Nov 21, 1907 ·Page 6The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Kansas, Wed, Jun 12, 1918, Page 7Lusitania victim leaves behind fortune, Otago Daily Times, July 6, 2015, Accessed March 14, 2024 His groomsmen included painter Ben Ali Haggin, grandson of millionaire James Ben Ali Haggin, and Frank J. Gould, husband of Princess Vlora of Albania, and son of robber baron Jay Gould.The New York Times, Sun, Nov 03, 1907 ·Page 54 Gould's brother built Hempstead House on Long Island. On their wedding day, they were also showered with presents by Mrs. and Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt of The Breakers, nephew of George Washington Vanderbilt II of the Biltmore Estate.The Boston Globe, Thu, Jun 08, 1911 ·Page 9The Washington Post, Thu, Nov 07, 1907 ·Page 12The Washington Post, Thu, Nov 07, 1907 ·Page 26
Mrs. Best was a protegee of Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish.Mrs. Vladimir Behr, A Society Figure, 78, The New York Times, 6 July 1964 Gladys Vanderbilt of the Breakers, and Countess Beroldingen, came at her debutante party in New York, and was personally invited to Mrs. Astor gala at the Beechwood Estate.The Sacramento Union, Sun, Aug 02, 1925 ·Page 30 Mrs. Best was also announced to society by Mrs. Astor's son, John Jacob Astor IV, who later perished on the Titanic, and was a member of The Four Hundred during the Gilded Age, along with her cousin Charlotte Tooker Warren.Madsen, Christopher (2005), Chapter 18: Baby Best: A New Love for Brother Sackett, Mystic Seaport, Rosenfeld Collection, Library of Congress In 1907, the couple occupied, with Mrs. Clermont Livingston Best and Mrs. Eva Lincoln, the opera box at the Hudson Theatre, to see Brewster's Millions on Broadway.Brooklyn Life, Sat, Jun 22, 1907 ·Page 12
Social life
The Yale-Smith couple attended, with Mrs. J. Ellis Roosevelt, the wedding of Florence Bourne, daughter Frederick Gilbert Bourne, the proprietor of the Singer Building.The Washington Post, Fri, May 01, 1908 ·Page 12 They then attended the wedding reception at Newport of Mrs. Best's cousin, Charlotte L. Warren, daughter of Whitney Warren.The Buffalo Enquirer, Fri, Dec 27, 1907 ·Page 12 Guests included Mrs. Taylor of Glen House Manor, nicknamed Empress Josephine, Ogden Mills of Livingston Manor, Countess Gladys Vanderbilt of The Breakers, cousin of Duchess Consuelo Vanderbilt of Blenheim Palace, the Goelets of Ochre Court, and a few others. They were also at her cousin's New York reception at 1040 Fifth Avenue, along with Mrs. John Jacob Astor IV, Mrs. Alfred Wagstaff Jr., Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III, and other socialites.The New York Times, Fri, Dec 27, 1907 ·Page 7
Smith's wife was involved in various activities at Newport, Rhode Island, with the daughters of C. P. H. Gilbert, architect for the Warburgs of Warburg House, and for Otto Hermann Kahn of Oheka Castle.The Saturday Evening Kansas Commoner, Thu, Oct 22, 1908 ·Page 2The Indianapolis News, Mon, Aug 24, 1908 ·Page 8 They were invited at the debutante reception of Mrs. John Ellis Roosevelt at her new home at 818 Madison Avenue, to introduce their daughter Gladys Roosevelt to society.The Washington Post, Fri, Dec 06, 1907 ·Page 12 Her husband was a cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, being the son of Robert Roosevelt, Teddy's uncle. They attended the reception with Emlen Roosevelt, Mrs. Frederic René Coudert Sr., aunt of Mrs. Condé Nast, and others.
Despite being from wealthy families, the couple were not given large sums of money after their marriage. Elizur's father, Wellington Smith, was an old-fashioned New Englander who thought that sons should first make their own way in life before having a share in the family wealth. As a result, Mrs. Best filed for divorce 6 months later, and Smith fled to Europe.Reading Times, Sat, May 16, 1908 ·Page 6 Smith would inherit equally with his brothers a few years later when his father died in 1910.The Baltimore Sun, Fri, May 20, 1910 ·Page 11
After their divorce, Mrs. Best remarried to Arthur Carroll, son of Gen. Carroll of Carrollcliffe, and grandson of Congressman John H. Starin.The Washington Post, Tue, Jul 05, 1910 ·Page 5ARTHUR CARROLL; Chairman of Sicilian Asphalt Paving Company Board Was 53, The New York Times, March 19, 1938 Their wedding was attended by Baron Rudolph von Buddenbrock, grandson of Prussian General Friedrich von Buddenbrock of the Napoleonic Wars.The Washington Post, Tue, Sep 13, 1910 ·Page 7
She remarried 10 years later to W. Sackett Duell, son of Associate Justice Charles H. Duel, brother of Senator Holland S. Duell, and grandson of Congressman R. Holland Duell. She remarried six months later to Lt. Charles Albert Smylie, whom she would also divorce. Her last husband was Vladimir Alexandrovitch Behr, Major in the old Moscow Grenadiers, and aide to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of the House of Romanov.Evening star, Sat, Mar 29, 1952 ·Page 6
Later life
Around 1910, Smith was placed on a hard bench in the Cook County Jail in Chicago, for having made worthless checks to The Blackstone Hotel.Chicago Examiner, Thu, Jun 15, 1911 ·Page 4The Berkshire Eagle, Thu, Jun 08, 1911 ·Page 2 He had been previously accused of the same scheme in London a few years before at the Carlton Hotel.The Berkshire Eagle, Fri, May 22, 1908 ·Page 2 His checks were without funds at the time based on technicalities with the trust fund, as while being an heir of his father's fortune with his brothers, he had not yet inherited the full sum.
In 1916, during World War I, Smith became lieutenant in the American Legion of the Dominion of Canada, under Lt. Col. Sage, and later sailed for Europe.The Pittsburgh Press, Wed, Dec 13, 1916 ·Page 4 He was in charge of recruiting in Vancouver, and later for British Columbia. He graduated from the Royal School of Infantry, and was made instructor of musketry and bombing. In the same year, he served as lieutenant in the 211th Battalion of the American Legion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.Vancouver Daily World, Fri, Mar 24, 1916 ·Page 16Vancouver Daily World, Thu, Mar 23, 1916 ·Page 12
In 1917, Elizur's brother, Augustus Smith, at the time president of the Smith Paper Co., would sell the family enterprise to the British American Tobacco Co. of James Buchanan Duke, benefactor and namesake of Duke University.The North Adams Transcript, Tue, Mar 03, 1936 ·Page 3The Farmville Herald, Fri, Sep 24, 1943 ·Page 12 In 1919, he became captain of the 50th Battalion of the Canadian Corps in France. He was wounded on the battlefield and would go to London, where he would be posted at the headquarters of the Canadian Forestry Corps.Calgary Herald, Fri, May 23, 1919 ·Page 6