Isabel Weld Perkins
Encyclopedia
Isabel Weld Perkins mostly known as Isabel Anderson or Mrs. Larz Anderson after her marriage, was a Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

-area heiress and author who left a legacy to the public that includes a park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

 and two museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

s. She is interred in the St. Mary Chapel at Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...

 with her husband, Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson III was a wealthy American businessman and diplomat who briefly served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan ....

.

Ancestry

Born at 284 Marlborough Street in Boston's Back Bay
Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes, which are considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States, as well as numerous architecturally significant individual...

, on both sides of her family Isabel Weld Perkins was descended from wealthy Boston Brahmin
Boston Brahmin
Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment...

 who traced their history back to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

. Generations of ancestors and relatives on both sides had been educated at Harvard, had traded with the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

, and had built stately homes in Greater Boston
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...

 (especially in what is now Jamaica Plain
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...

).

Isabel's father was Commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...

 George H. Perkins
George H. Perkins
Commodore George Hamilton Perkins was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

, the commander of the USS Cayuga
USS Cayuga (1861)
The first USS Cayuga was a in the United States Navy.Cayuga was launched 21 October 1861 by Gildersleeve and Son, East Haddam, Connecticut; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; commissioned 21 February 1862, Lieutenant N. B...

 during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The commodore's father had grown rich building mills in Contoocookville, New Hampshire
Contoocook, New Hampshire
Contoocook is a village and census-designated place within the town of Hopkinton in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,444 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 and running a shipping firm in Boston that did business in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

.

Her mother was Anna Minot Weld, a wealthy socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

 born to the Weld Family
Weld family
The Weld family is an extended family of Boston Brahmins most remembered for the philanthropy of its members. The Welds have many connections to Harvard University, the Golden Age of Sail, the Far East , the history of Massachusetts, and American history in general.William Weld, former Governor of...

 of Boston. When Isabel was only five years old, she inherited $17 million dollars from her grandfather William Fletcher Weld
William Fletcher Weld
William Fletcher Weld was a shipping magnate during the "Golden Age of Sail". He later invested in railroads and real estate. Weld multiplied his family's fortune into a huge legacy for his descendants and the public.-Early life:...

, reportedly making her the wealthiest woman in the world.

Larz Anderson

In 1896, Perkins was a 20-year old debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...

 on a world tour. She made a stop in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and met Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson III was a wealthy American businessman and diplomat who briefly served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan ....

, a young Harvard-educated diplomat from an affluent and prestigious Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 family.

They were married in Boston a year later and embarked on a life of luxury combined with public service and adventure. They traveled widely, making four trips around the world and throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. Anderson held a number of diplomatic posts, including a short stint as U.S. Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

A writer for the Boston Globe sums up Isabel and her marriage by saying:

...these Andersons? They were idle rich, born to money and accustomed to privilege -- but they were interesting people who left us something...Isabel did what rich young women did back then -- she "came out
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...

," summered in Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, "springed" in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, wintered in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, partied aplenty. In 1896, the debutante went to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, a young attractive woman with a considerable inherited fortune. She met Larz; he was smitten; they were married. He did the diplomat thing; she wrote books and plays. They split their time between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

.

Books

Isabel wrote a number of books; those that concern her family specifically are those of the most interest to historians. She also wrote several travelogue
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...

s, volumes of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, and many children's stories.

Her book Under the Black horse flag: Annals of the Weld family and some of its branches describes the transportation empire begun by her great-grandfather William Gordon Weld
William Gordon Weld
William Gordon Weld was a shipmaster and ship owner. He is notable as an ancestor of several famous Welds.-Ancestry and early life:...

 and details his descendants up to the time of writing.

She also edited the papers of her American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 hero father-in-law and published them as The letters and journals of General Nicholas Longworth Anderson; Harvard, civil war, Washington, 1854-1892.

Among her other works are Circling Africa, On the Move, Spell of Belgium, Topsy Turvy and the Gold Star,, Yacht in Mediterranean Seas and Zigzagging the South Seas. Most of her own personal papers are now part of the collection kept at Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Larz Anderson Auto Museum is located on the grounds of Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Massachusetts and is the oldest collection of motorcars in the United States....

. Others are stored at New England Historic Genealogical Society
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. A charitable, nonprofit educational institution, NEHGS is located at 99-101 Newbury Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, in an eight-story archive and research center....

.

Croix de Guerre

During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Isabel worked for the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

 as a volunteer of the District of Columbia Refreshment Corp. In 1918 she received the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

 for her contributions.

Anderson House

Weld money funded a luxurious mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

 at Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  The Andersons used this as their winter residence from approximately New Years through the beginning of Lent, except when they were traveling abroad or aboard their private steam yacht, The Roxana. After Larz died, Isabel gave the property to the Society of the Cincinnati
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a historical organization with branches in the United States and France founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of the American Revolutionary War officers and to pressure the government to honor pledges it had made to officers who fought for American...

, of which Anderson was a member. Anderson House now serves as the society's national headquarters and a museum.

Anderson Memorial Bridge

Weld money also built a bridge across the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...

 connecting Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

 in honor of her father-in-law Nicholas Longworth Anderson
Nicholas Longworth Anderson
Nicholas Longworth Anderson was a United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War as Colonel of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.-Biography:...

. The bridge stands next to Weld Boathouse
Weld Boathouse
Weld Boathouse is a Harvard-owned building on the bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is named after George Walker Weld, who bequeathed the funds for its construction.-History:...

, a local landmark named after and paid for by her uncle, George Walker Weld
George Walker Weld
George Walker Weld , youngest son of William Fletcher Weld and member of the Weld Family of Boston, was a founding member of the Boston Athletic Association and the financier of the Weld Boathouse, a landmark on the Charles River.-Early life:Weld was athletic as a student at Harvard College and...

.

Perkins Manor

In addition to her Weld inheritance from her mother's family, Isabel inherited a stately manor in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 from her commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...

 father. Larz and Isabel spent considerable time here and she even opened the doors of this regal mansion to the public for a few summers. This stately manor was called the Larz Anderson estate during this time but has since been divided into eight apartments and is again known as Perkins Manor
Perkins Manor, Contoocook
Perkins Manor is a historic building in Contoocook, New Hampshire. It is the birthplace of Commodore George H. Perkins and later served as one of several homes of his daughter Isabel Weld Perkins and her husband Larz Anderson....

.

Weld Estate

Isabel purchased 64 acres (258,999 m²) in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

 from her 1st cousin. To this estate, which had been in Isabel's family for generations, the Andersons added a twenty-five room mansion that they used for summers and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 holidays. The mansion, overlooking the Boston skyline, was remodeled to resemble Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....

, an ancestral home associated with the Welds. They named the place "Weld" in honor of Isabel's grandfather. Isabel willed this property to the Town of Brookline and it is now Larz Anderson Park
Larz Anderson Park
Larz Anderson Park is a wooded, landscaped, and waterscaped parkland in Brookline, Massachusetts that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The southwest corner of the park is in Boston...

.

Auto Collection

Shortly after they wed, the Andersons began assembling an extraordinary collection of horse-drawn carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

s, sleighs and motorcars. In donating these along with the property, Isabel Anderson stipulated in her will that these be known as the "Larz Anderson Collection." Fourteen of the original thirty-two vehicles remain in the collection and are still on display as part of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, the oldest collection of motorcars in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Bonsai Collection

After Larz's death, Isabel donated 30 of their bonsai
Bonsai
is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...

 to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 along with the funds necessary to build a shade house for their display. Following her death, the remaining nine plants were donated to the Arboretum including an 80-year-old hinoki cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...

 that had been given to the Andersons by the Emperor of Japan
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...

.

The BC Eagle

The Anderson's residence in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 was adorned with a gilded bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 which stood in front of their home. The Andersons brought the eagle back to the United States and it remained on their Brookline property after their death.

In 1954, the gilded sculpture was donated to Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

 and is now considered synonymous with the "BC Eagle
Baldwin the Eagle
Baldwin the Eagle, an anthropomorphized bald eagle, is the mascot of the Boston College Eagles.The nickname "Eagles" goes back to 1920 when Rev. Edward McLaughlin, unhappy at seeing a newspaper cartoon which represented Boston College as a cat after a track victory, wrote to the college newspaper...

", the university's mascot.

External links


Sources

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