the war, Vanderbilt left Rhode Island and retired to a farm in South Williamstown, Massachusetts. Oakland Farm and its 150 acres in Portsmouth, Rhode Island was sold and divided into housing lots by the end of the 1940s. Vanderbilt died of cancer on April 14, 1981, at the age of 79. He was buried in the Southlawn Cemetery in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He is one of the few descendants of William Henry Vanderbilt not to be buried in the family tomb on Staten Island. Personal life Vanderbilt married Emily O'Neill Davies (1903–1935), granddaughter of Daniel O'Neill, owner of the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper, and daughter of Frederick Martin Davies on November 1, 1923 at Grace Church, New York. Emily was the grandniece of Frederick Townsend Martin, a prominent writer of the 1920s. The couple gave birth to a daughter: Emily "Paddy" Vanderbilt (b. 1925), who married Jeptha Wade, both graduates of MIT. The couple's marriage was troubled and Emily sued for divorce in Paris in the summer of 1926, but reconciled. She again sued for divorce in Newport, Rhode Island which was granted in June 1928. She later married Sigourney Thayer (1896–1944), for less than a year, and then Raoul Whitfield (1896–1945), shortly before her death in 1935. On December 27, 1929, Vanderbilt married for the second time to Anne Gordon Colby (1909–1974) of West Orange, New Jersey. Together, they had three children: Anne Vanderbilt (d. 2014), who was married Samuel Adams Hartwell, Sr. Elsie Vanderbilt, who married Andre Walter George Newburg (1928–2018) in 1954 and M. Bernard Aidinoff (1929–2016) in 1996. William H. Vanderbilt IV (b. 1945) This marriage also ended in divorce in 1969 after 40 years of marriage, and Vanderbilt promptly re-married the following year to Helen Cummings Cook (d. 1997), who was previously married to John R. Cook, founder of Warren Cable Co., who survived him in death. Awards For his service in the Navy, Vanderbilt was entitled to the following medals: World War I Victory Medal Naval Reserve Medal American Defense Service Medal with "BASE" clasp American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal References |- |- 1901 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American politicians American people of Dutch descent Philanthropists from New York (state) Bates College alumni Burials in Massachusetts Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Republican Party governors of Rhode Island Politicians from New York City St. George's School (Rhode Island) alumni William Henry