Nevada Stoody Hayes
Encyclopedia
Nevada Stoody Hayes sometimes called Nevada de Bragança, was an American socialite who became the wife of Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto
, whose nephew, Manuel II
, was the last king of Portugal
. She was never accepted as a member of the exiled Portuguese royal family, yet by Portuguese law her marriage to Afonso was legal.
During the year just prior to his invention's taking flight, she had been busy. In fact, the day after her divorce from Lee Agnew, Sr., in 1906, she married William Henry Chapman
, who was then in his early seventies. When he left her more than $8 million at his death, merely one year later, the newspapers dubbed her "the $10 million widow": Nevada Stoody Hayes, from her wealth amassing comes the Edwardian gossips' pithy-maxim, "marry well at the altar, but become truly rich at the grave, like Nevada."
As can be expected for a very attractive not too old widow (she claimed a birth-date of born 21 October 1885; however, several sources say as early as 1870 which seems more likely considering her parents' ages, and those of her siblings: she was known to take exceeding private and stringent health and beauty protocols, with visits to Europe's best natural water spas) of substantial means, Nevada, herself, became too an obsessive marriage target for many a "penniless and ambitious", which, of course, included an array of less wealthy men, of all social rank worldwide, such was her fame.
She bore one child, a son, David Agnew, sired by her first husband, the inventor.
Excerpted from Mrs. Astor’s 400:
MARRIAGE CAREER SUMMARY & MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Nevada four husband were a varied lot, representing a broad spectrum of abilities, achievements and ambitions. Recapping, her first three husbands were these:
1) Lee Agnew, Sr. (multi-millionaire: self-made)
2) William Henry Chapman (multi-millionaire; inherited and self-made))
3) Philip Van Valkenburgh (never made a million; it was not commonly known in New York City society circles, until after his divorce settlement, that his entire namesake family’s wealth was well below a half-a-million dollars)
Her fourth and last husband was the 3rd Duke of Porto, Dom Afonso of Braganza (1865–1920), whom she married morganatically
on 26 September 1917 in Rome, and, again, in a civil ceremony, on 23 November of that year, in Madrid. Nevada began calling herself "Her Royal Highness, Nevada, the Duchess of Porto", but the Portuguese royal family
never recognised her as a member. Afonso tried to have his wife accepted by his family, but he was rebuffed.
Three years later, on 21 February 1920, at Naples
, Italy
, the duke died. Even though the terms of a morganatic marriage exclude the surviving spouse from inheriting any of the titles or privileges that are the prerogatives of royalty, they do not exclude the survivor from inheriting property. In his will, Dom Afonso left his entire estate to Nevada Stoody Hayes. Not surprisingly, the duke's family found this incomprehensible.
The 35-year-old (her actual, biological, age most likely, at that time would have been 50-years-old; she was known to intimates, included among them were several Grande-dames, hailing from the former Mrs. Astor's New York and Newport, Rhode Island
fabled 400-High Society. She prudently eschewed all sugar (except raw fruit), caffeine and most dairy products: she was an ardent health food advocate, who ate many green vegetables, raw and lightly steamed. Her routine included moderate exercise and beauty treatments, including mud facials. She was mindful of too much sun exposure, determined not to gain weight, and used a tape measure daily. She simply would not allow her feminine figure or delicate muscles to atrophy: in her private alternate daily regime, she lifted weighty wood pins) former Duchess of Porto traveled to Portugal from Italy with the body of her late husband, and she arranged for its installation in the Braganza pantheon in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
in Lisbon
.
She remained in Lisbon during the contentious period when the duke's possessions were gathered and crated.
Excerpted from Mrs. Astor's 400:
Nevada Stoody Hayes died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa
, Florida
, in 1941, at the age of fifty-five years. Only after her death was it possible for the Foundation of the House of Bragança to buy the painting, "Battle of Cape St. Vincent
", a Portuguese national treasure, depicting a victory of the fleet of Maria II of Portugal over the fleet of Miguel I of Portugal during the Liberal Wars
. It is now located in the Maritime Museum in Lisbon. The work had been included in her inheritance.
Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto
Afonso Henriques, Prince Royal of Portugal was a Portuguese prince of the House of Braganza, the son of King Luis I of Portugal and his wife, Maria Pia of Savoy.-Biography:...
, whose nephew, Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
, was the last king of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. She was never accepted as a member of the exiled Portuguese royal family, yet by Portuguese law her marriage to Afonso was legal.
Biography
Her first husband was the noted inventor, Lee Agnew, whom she divorced in 1906. After being divorced from Ms. Hayes for one year, Agnew became a multi-millionaire. His fortune derived from the assignment of patents and royalties related to his automated newspaper-folding machine, a device used in conjunction with the large presses used to print newspapers. Despite the divorce, Mr. Agnew maintained his warm feelings toward his former wife, and, after he died, on 31 January 1924, his will left her the residual income from his estate, the income not earmarked for the support of their son, Lee "David" Agnew, Jr. It amounted to a substantial annuity for Ms. Hayes.During the year just prior to his invention's taking flight, she had been busy. In fact, the day after her divorce from Lee Agnew, Sr., in 1906, she married William Henry Chapman
William Chapman
George William Albert Chapman, né George William Alphred , was a Canadian poet.Chapman was born at Saint-François-de-Beauce, Quebec , and was educated at Levis College. He studied law, afterward engaged in commercial pursuits, and later entered the civil service of the Province of Quebec...
, who was then in his early seventies. When he left her more than $8 million at his death, merely one year later, the newspapers dubbed her "the $10 million widow": Nevada Stoody Hayes, from her wealth amassing comes the Edwardian gossips' pithy-maxim, "marry well at the altar, but become truly rich at the grave, like Nevada."
As can be expected for a very attractive not too old widow (she claimed a birth-date of born 21 October 1885; however, several sources say as early as 1870 which seems more likely considering her parents' ages, and those of her siblings: she was known to take exceeding private and stringent health and beauty protocols, with visits to Europe's best natural water spas) of substantial means, Nevada, herself, became too an obsessive marriage target for many a "penniless and ambitious", which, of course, included an array of less wealthy men, of all social rank worldwide, such was her fame.
She bore one child, a son, David Agnew, sired by her first husband, the inventor.
Excerpted from Mrs. Astor’s 400:
“… She immediately went to Europe where it was reported that those vying for her hand included Lord Falconer (later the 10th Earl of Kintore who married American heiress Helen Zimmerman, formerly Duchess of Manchester), Count A. F. Chereff-Spiritovitch (a younger officer in the army of the Tsar), Prince Mohammed Ali Hassan, and Count Aubert de Sonies who came from Paris to New York on the same ship with the widow. While the Count was in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel waiting to present flowers and a proposal of marriage, she departed by a rear exit with Philip Van Valkenburgh, a prominent member of an old New York family (but, obviously in need of some of her money, she would soon come to find out). They were married in Connecticut on 23 November 1909 and were divorced after a short-time amid protracted legal battles; she finally settled $200,000 upon him in 1910 …”
MARRIAGE CAREER SUMMARY & MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Nevada four husband were a varied lot, representing a broad spectrum of abilities, achievements and ambitions. Recapping, her first three husbands were these:
1) Lee Agnew, Sr. (multi-millionaire: self-made)
2) William Henry Chapman (multi-millionaire; inherited and self-made))
3) Philip Van Valkenburgh (never made a million; it was not commonly known in New York City society circles, until after his divorce settlement, that his entire namesake family’s wealth was well below a half-a-million dollars)
Her fourth and last husband was the 3rd Duke of Porto, Dom Afonso of Braganza (1865–1920), whom she married morganatically
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
on 26 September 1917 in Rome, and, again, in a civil ceremony, on 23 November of that year, in Madrid. Nevada began calling herself "Her Royal Highness, Nevada, the Duchess of Porto", but the Portuguese royal family
House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
The House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was a branch of the House of Braganza that ruled the Kingdom of Portugal from 1853 until the declaration of the republic in 1910....
never recognised her as a member. Afonso tried to have his wife accepted by his family, but he was rebuffed.
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the duke died. Even though the terms of a morganatic marriage exclude the surviving spouse from inheriting any of the titles or privileges that are the prerogatives of royalty, they do not exclude the survivor from inheriting property. In his will, Dom Afonso left his entire estate to Nevada Stoody Hayes. Not surprisingly, the duke's family found this incomprehensible.
The 35-year-old (her actual, biological, age most likely, at that time would have been 50-years-old; she was known to intimates, included among them were several Grande-dames, hailing from the former Mrs. Astor's New York and Newport, Rhode Island
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...
fabled 400-High Society. She prudently eschewed all sugar (except raw fruit), caffeine and most dairy products: she was an ardent health food advocate, who ate many green vegetables, raw and lightly steamed. Her routine included moderate exercise and beauty treatments, including mud facials. She was mindful of too much sun exposure, determined not to gain weight, and used a tape measure daily. She simply would not allow her feminine figure or delicate muscles to atrophy: in her private alternate daily regime, she lifted weighty wood pins) former Duchess of Porto traveled to Portugal from Italy with the body of her late husband, and she arranged for its installation in the Braganza pantheon in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
The Church or Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls" is a 17th century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.
She remained in Lisbon during the contentious period when the duke's possessions were gathered and crated.
Excerpted from Mrs. Astor's 400:
".... He forfeited his inheritance rights to the throne by his marriage and his financial allowance from the royal family was cut."
Nevada styled herself as the Crown Princess of Portugal. Her husband was the uncle of King Manuel of Portugal and only brother of King Manuel's father, the murdered King Carlos. King Victor Emanuel, a cousin of the Duke of Oporto, gave him asylum in the Royal Palace in Naples and a reported allowance of $10,000 per year. The Duke of Oporto died in Naples in 1920 having fled there after the Portuguese Revolution. After the death of the King of Portugal Nevada petitioned the republican government – to no avail - to grant her all the royal family’s funds as she considered herself its senior member.
She sailed to the U. S. in 1921 to have made a silver casket on a bronze base (weighing half a ton) in which to convey her late husband’s body from Naples to Lisbon. There it would be displayed in the Pantheon before the Duke of PortoPortoPorto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
was buried next to his murdered brother, the late King. In 1935 the Duchess of Porto traveled on the Ile de France to New York where she reported that, having spent two months in Germany, she was "greatly impressed by Adolf Hitler."
She jealously guarded (and according to all precedent, she and the hypocritical status phoniness of that period, she was correct in asserting her marital rights) what she perceived as her rights as Crown Princess and once, on a trans-Atlantic cruise which also included the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, to ensure that she be seated on the Captain’s right at dinner rather than the Grand Duchess, she entered the dining room ahead of all other guests to take her seat. She died 11 January 1941 in Tampa, Florida, at St. Joseph's Hospital after an illness of 10 days. She had spent the winter in Tampa for the preceding 10-years. She left a son, David Agnew, of New York, and four sisters ...."
Nevada Stoody Hayes died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, in 1941, at the age of fifty-five years. Only after her death was it possible for the Foundation of the House of Bragança to buy the painting, "Battle of Cape St. Vincent
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1833)
The fourth Battle of Cape St Vincent was fought on 5 July 1833 and was a decisive encounter in Portugal's Liberal Wars. A naval squadron commanded by the British officer Charles Napier, on behalf of Dom Pedro IV, regent for the rightful Queen Maria II, defeated the navy of the usurper Dom...
", a Portuguese national treasure, depicting a victory of the fleet of Maria II of Portugal over the fleet of Miguel I of Portugal during the Liberal Wars
Liberal Wars
The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...
. It is now located in the Maritime Museum in Lisbon. The work had been included in her inheritance.