Only after George responded to her leaving by seeking full custody of the children, Amy says, did she begin to share her side of the story. English Years later, in Lake Wales, he would develop a similar interest in the girls who came to work for himalmost all of whom had grown up in trailer parks, were just finishing high school, and knew one another through the First Assembly of God church, where some of the congregants speak in tongues. I wanted to get him out of politics, says Amy. What do I want? asks Amy ONeill, holding little Phoebe and looking out over the beach in Delray. She had been up all night with the children, two of whom were getting over pneumonia. He died in 1974. All rights reserved. In court, Amy would also learn that her husband paid for Acreman to have a nose job. Learn more about managing a memorial . The socialite, who had known Amy since she was 12, says she asked her afterward, How can you stand it?. Abby and George O'Neill carried forward the Rockefeller legacy 'that has come to define the tradition of artistic collecting in the United States' Between 1998 and 2004 she served as chairman of Rockefeller Financial Services and Rockefeller & Company. Sleepy Hollow, New York 10591, Phone: (914) 366-6300 Abby Rockefeller Milton Dining With Her New Husband Irving H. Pardee (Original Caption) Dr. Irving Hotchkiss Pardee and his bride, the former Mrs. Abby Rockefeller Milton, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr., are shown as they dined in the Wedgewood room of the Waldorf Astoria just before they left for a honeymoon in Bermuda. However, Amy recalls, when I got home from the hospital, she kept calling him on the phone, late at night, when we were in bed.. However, as family friends say, she didnt spend very much. I told him it was a girl. Later several Lost Classics Girls would testify that she was overmedicating her children in an effort to quiet them down. The two annual outlaw meetings, like most family powwowsincluding the intergenerational meetings and the Christmas family lunchwere held at the Playhouse, the enormous Tudor-style manor in the middle of Pocantico that John D. Rockefeller Jr. had built for his sons, the generation known as the Brothers. The Playhouse has a bowling alley, swimming pools, squash courts, an ice-cream parlor, and a main room used for meetings. 1928) to Nelson Rockefeller's youngest son, Mark (b. So in 1967 the Rockefeller Family Fund was created George has testified that the weight did not bother him: I grew up in a family of women [who were], shall we say, Rubenesque. But during Amys first pregnancy, Hare and others say, they noticed that George treated his wife in a more and more demeaning way, referring to his once precious bride as a pig and a slob. He wanted her with him all the time, says another. They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel. That night, says Amy, George went into a rage and demanded that I retract what I said in writing. As the case heads to trialan event that has been scheduled for March, apparently so as not to interfere with the social season in Mountain Lakethe sordid details of George and Amys marriage are just a part of what may be revealed. Instead, she was headed for years in the gated Wasp enclave of Mountain Lake, in central Floridaand what she describes as a nightmare of indelity, perversion, and guns that led to her hospitalization for depression. Only a few have emerged from the 200-plus hours of testimony recorded over the past 18 months in an Orlando courtroom. And so I did something which I deeply regret.. Accessibility Statement When she converted, her father-in-law, George ONeill Sr., the reigning Catholic of the Rockefeller family, was her godfather. Though the classiest store in Lake Wales was Wal-Mart, George believed that she was spending too much money there, and he took credit cards away from her, instructing the help that when they were sent out for groceries they were never to give her the change.. She would float around the room at embassy parties, speaking fluent French with all these diplomats and aristocrats and Swiss bankers. Most of those parties featured a mother-daughter act: Faith would play the piano, and Amy would sing Cole Porter. And so he wanted to accumulate as many as he could. He also, she says, made me watch videos, many, many videos, concerning the activities of the A.T.F. Like most Rockefeller family occasions, the christening of little George Dorr ONeill III on New Years Day 1995 began quite sedately. I was too embarrassed to go to confession., In the letter she never sent, Amy continues: He offered to take me away for vacations, just the two of us. Much to my despair, these vacations turned out to be weekends at seedy hotels in Kissimmee where we watched endless pay-per-view hardcore pornography at night and roamed local smut shops during the day in search of things I wanted. Unless I joined him in this interest I could never hope to please him as a wife. My ultimate fantasy, Amy says, was to have a minivan full of kids, a couple of dogs, and a house that was warm and inviting. She says that in her eight-month courtship by George they talked often about having a large family (He wanted six). In the end, even the airing of the amount of the trust may prove to be anticlimactic. I think there were actually drug dealers on the corner when we arrived, says Faith. The christening of little Georgie III was postponed until January so that Faith Whittlesey, wearing an eye patch and about to start chemotherapy, could attend. To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one. They were like the miracle couple. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. You have funeral questions, we have answers. And I found that extraordinarily difficult, to reconcile the two.. By appointment only. For weeks she and her husband, unaware of Amys mothers ties to Reagan, were convinced they were spying for the Bush campaign. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. And at night hed take me and all the hardworking pro-life volunteers out to dinner, she says. Links: en.wikipedia.org. (motherfucking bitch) and the Dragon Lady, with George, according to other employees, egging them on. Meanwhile, Amys mother-in-law, who as chairman of the Rockefeller philanthropies embraces such fashionably liberal causes as economic justice for women, is being accused by Amy and her mother of allowing the family to turn its back on a mother and five children. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. They all seemed to have a lookthe skank look, says one employee. Before their divorce in 1943, they had two daughters: And I was concerned about the expense. Amy, who delivered all her children by cesarean section, became an exhausted wreck, says Shirley Hare, the childrens former nanny. So we assumed they were, you know But in fact they werent. I seemed to have uncontrollable tears. She called a friend in Lake Wales and asked her to drive her to a psychiatric facility in nearby Winter Park. Wafflerama was suspended only when Georges parents were in Mountain Lake. Two months later, Amy discovered she was pregnant again and called George. The staff and board of PCHP are so honored to have worked with her and will miss her very much. Then George and Amy decided to adopt him. Amy saw a therapist and went on antidepressants. Many of the Rockefellers, Amy found, were well versed in The Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence, by Jessie H. ONeill (no relation), a book that compares the psychological effect of inheriting wealth with that of growing up in poverty. George wants full custody of the children and seems unwilling to share his stake in the Rockefeller fortune, which, by all accountsexcept hisis staggering. She died peacefully in her sleep at age 89. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. In particular, her attendance was requested at the in-law meetingswhich were more commonly called the outlaw meetings. They were like encounter groups, says Amy. In court, George spoke about the big day when he showed up at an apartment in Lake Wales where two of the girls lived. (Amy denies this.) (The book companywhich is owned by George and his parentscontinues to publish, though it has never turned a profit. Meanwhile, the Lost Classics Girls were rewarded with $100 bills and gifts such as cameras and linens from Paris. ). He said that I wasnt a very good wife and that I didnt support him, and I was so crazy that any other man would have slapped me around by now. O'NEILL--Abby. She was also a resident of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Lake Wales, Florida, where she was a member of the Mountain Lake Club. He said, Jennifer, it would be best if you werent here when she came home. But I kind of figured I wasnt coming back. She says she returned to the house only once, to get her toothbrush from the bathroom. He died after a long illness at the age of 76 at the. say the signs. Several weeks later, Faith Whittlesey was diagnosed with cancer, a rare melanoma of the eye, and her right eye had to be removed. Mrs. Milton a granddaughter of the late John D. Rockefeller Sr., based . Since they had moved to Mountain Lake, he had been less interested in his sculpting, and spent most of his workday helping out Republican candidates, particularly central Floridas Charles Canady, who is considered by liberals to be a new Jesse Helms. As the case of ONeill v. ONeill finally heads to trial after a bitter, year-and-a-half-long battle, money will become a major issue. Abigail was the first child and only daughter of philanthropists John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. On May 14, 1925, she married David M. Milton, a lawyer and investment banker. Already, ONeill v. ONeill has weathered a paternity disputeGeorge didnt believe he was the father of Amys fifth child until DNA testing proved itand an unusual request in custody litigation: once it was ascertained that George was in fact the father of little Phoebe Elizabeth, he wanted his wife to pump her breast milk and have it delivered to him on weekends so that he could bond with the infant. It was Ambassador Whittlesey herself who introduced her only daughter to George ONeill Jr. Beside her was her mother, Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the former ambassador to Switzerland and director of public liaison under Ronald Reagan, who had fought her way up through conservative Republican circles to be the only woman on Reagans senior staff with a West Wing office. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. And Amy was in a dither because she couldnt handle the pressure. That night sparks apparently flew, although scarcely anyone noticed. The first signs of trouble appeared when the couple got what they had wanted mostkids, and lots of them. (Abby ONeill declined requests to be interviewed. He even adopted the kid. In fact, according to Amy, of all their children, George is closest to Paul Henry, who is now eight. They would take her meals, and her babies, to her room. Weve updated the security on the site. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. What did happen over the years in that dreary house in Mountain Lake? In the course of several interviews for this story, she often defended him, saying that he didnt grow up with a lot of affection and that his inappropriate relationships with young women sprang less from malice than from his need for attention. He called it the Roach Towerto tweak his parents, who lived lavishly in Oyster Bay, on Long Island, but kept a pied--terre at the Ritz Tower in Manhattan. Sorry! After a courtship that lasted five years, Abby Aldrich married John D. Rockefeller at a lavish wedding ceremony on Warwick Neck, Rhode Island on October 9, 1901. She was dedicated to Bradford and served as its Board Chairman for nine years. Amys friends used to tease her by calling her the Princess of Lake Wales. We just knew she was a single mother raising five kids by herself, says one, a parent at her childrens school. Mrs. Rockefeller Milton, as she was known after her divorce, was married in 1946 to Dr. Irving Hotchkiss Pardee, al . She attended the New England Conservatory of Music in the early 1960s, where she encountered teachers critical of social inequality in the United States. She was the eldest grandchild of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. So, wheres the 50 grand?) George testified that the first time he heard about the $50,000 was in court. When he was a teenager, it kept him out of St. Marks and, later, Dalton for months at a timeperiods during which he stayed at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. You can always change this later in your Account settings. [5], Rockefeller owned property in Bermuda, the Roman Corporation at One Beekman Place in New York City, and at the Pocantico family estate Kykuit in Westchester County, New York. Wed spend infinite amounts of time at these meetings discussing what it is to be a Rockefeller and what a tremendous burden it is. At one family meeting, Amy learned, a sacred Indian stone was passed around, and everyone had to take turns holding the stone. The hospital wouldnt take me, she says, so her friend drove her back home. I thought he was very funny, she remembers. Perhaps it would be better to remain silent. Their job was to sit with George in his office in the house and read and typeset 19th-century childrens books. George ONeill called to invite the ambassador to an Election Night party at his loft. And I also told him he was a hypocrite and I couldnt go to church with him because of the requests that he was making of me., Well, for what I consider, as a Catholic, to be perverted sexual activity., Group sex, pornography. George was the knight in shining armor to this family, says one of his former friends. And he told me, Oh, no, Im not trying to seduce your daughter. Her first marriage took place on May 14, 1925, to David M. Milton (1900-1976), a lawyer and banker. One day recently, the only signs of life were security guards patrolling the grounds for intruders. According to Amys testimony, sometimes George did give me money, but it was based on a system of reward and punishment. When he was pleased with me, she said, he would give her a few dollars. At the front door was this full-size nude woman, which was a little overwhelming. Box 329, Oyster Bay, NY 11771, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, P.O. She also was a benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the YWCA, New York Hospital, the Museum of Modern of Art (of which her mother was a founder), the New York Zoological Society, and the Asia Society. Household employees say that the girls had a routine. As she later testified, He would stroke her hair, rub her shoulders, give her backrubs. Taken bleeding by ambulance to the hospital, she was finally admitted. According to family members, George ONeill Sr. had already flown to Florida and instructed his son to get rid of the girls. Back then, her friends thought that was cute.). Whittlesey, who hobnobbed with John Eisenhower (Dwights son) and Arlen Specter (then Philadelphias district attorney), was once described by a society columnist as the handsomest man in Philadelphia. (George looks a little bit like him, says Amy.) And my answer is: Absolutely yes. He apparently left in a huff, complaining to friends that after he had totally reorganized the database other Buchanan operatives fucked it up. He also had ongoing scraps with Bay Buchanan, Pats bulldog sister and campaign manager. @ 27.92571568, -81.58505201. He even agreed to counseling. The affair might have ended quite calmly, too, had one of the guests not wandered into the kitchen and, he says, found George junior, the 44-year-old father of the newly christened baby and the eldest of the fifth generation of Rockefellers, pressing a 19-year-old red-haired baby-sitter up against the refrigerator door. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. I have, on many occasions, invoked her name as one that people should look to as an exemplary board member. She died on May 27, 1976, at her apartment in New York City.[2]. Nelson Rockefeller son of John D. Jr., in a wheelchair at the Presbyterian Hospital. I didnt really pay much attention to George., Two months later, at a dinner before the inaugural ball, Amy was seated next to George. And that I should be very appreciative that he hadnt.. A carpenter who did work at the house remembers that they were all chubby, with big bosoms., George seemed to enjoy their company from the start. I sort of retreated out of the kitchen after seeing George, he recalls, with one hand on the baby-sitters breasts and the other down below.. But she was very elusive. Rockefeller was the first American to install a composting system in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, even though the technology had been around since the 1930s. Later they also went for a boat ride, along with several others, including Amy. He was just taking her around Switzerland showing her museums., She had a lot of suitors, says another friend of Amys. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Amy promptly called Barrett Nelson, the father of Terris four children, and informed him of what she says she had witnessed. She attended Brearley School and Miss Chapins School, both located in Manhattan. Her brother Henry, an honors student at Harvard and her closest friend, had begun to exhibit the first signs of schizophrenia. Or did a spoiled man develop talents for torment and psychological abuse that could rival those in the movie Gaslight? She is survived by her husband of 67 years, George D. O'Neill of Oyster Bay, New York and their six children: George D. O'Neill, Jr. (Erica) of Lake Wales, FL; Abby O. Caulkins (Charles) of Chappaqua, NY; David M. O'Neill (Connie) of Greenwood Village, CO; Catharine O. Broderick (Kevin) of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI; Wendy H. O'Neill (David Rayner) of Sarasota, FL and Peter M. O'Neill (Katie) of New York, NY. Above are pictured Abby Rockefeller, granddaughter of the Standard Oil king, and David M. Milton young attorney. Showing Editorial results for abby aldrich rockefeller. Georges argument to the court that he is cash poor may be accurate for now, for his wealth is still controlled by the trustees. Reports by those who have conducted research at the RAC. The next night, she claims, George told her explicitly how. So she promptly called him. When George met Amy, he was 38 and rather sickly. The courtroom process so far has been an exhausting and futile effort. By the time the adoption was final, Paul Henry was two years old. 1967). (He also liked to coach hertelling her what to wear, where to sit, what to eat. Both George and Acreman strongly deny that anything sexual went on between them, and she claims that Amy is a very sick individual. Now, as Lisa DePaulo reports, Americas most famously wealthy clan faces the scrutiny of divorce court, threatening the long-held secrecy of the Rockefeller trusts. At about 10:30 theyd all return downstairs with George for what was known as Wafflerama. She challenged the status quo, always encouraging us to go above and beyond. He has even brought his rosary to the courtroom. The six children of John D. Rockefeller Jr. had 24 children, ranging in age from Abby Rockefeller Milton's oldest daugh-ter, Abby Rockefeller O'Neill (b. One month the family was celebrating Henrys admission to Harvards Porcellian Club, the next they were getting calls from the campus police. Jennifer became history. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. The institute publishes the conservative magazine Chronicles and for many years put out a monthly report called The Family in America. Chronicles editor Tom Fleming considered himself a close friend of Georgeshe even visited the ONeills in Pietrasantauntil the night he sat in my living room until two a.m., bullying me and threatening me and trying to get me to quit. Hed tell them about Italy and France and England and Africa. This would go on for hours. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Dies---Served Hospitals Here and in Suburbs", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abby_Rockefeller_Mauz&oldid=1126609862, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Abigail Rockefeller Milton (19282017), who married George Dorr O'Neill, Marilyn Ellen Milton (19311980), who married. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. George snapped Barf! and threw it across the table. Faith never entirely got over the loss, and she never remarried. There were artists, photographers, models, and Rush Limbaugh, whose fledgling New York radio show was still relatively unknown, but who had at least one fan: Amy Whittlesey. In December 1996, she published an essay titled "Civilization and Sludge: Notes on the History of the Management of Human Excreta" in Current World Leaders International Issues. three marriages. So he went from one project to another, trying to find his place in the world and in the family., When Amy married George, she was automatically included in the regular family meetings at Pocantico, the fabled Rockefeller estate in New Yorks Hudson River Valley. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Whittlesey welcomed him at the embassy and posed for him. In mid-1973, Whittleseys advertising business failed at the same time that his major stockholdings plummeted. Diagnosed with postpartum depression, Amy slid into a state of such despair that employees say there were days when she could barely get out of bed. We have set your language to Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). They knew too much about the Reagan White House, Douglas explains. Her support for the Parent-Child Home Program enabled it to grow and thrive in her town of Oyster Bay, across Long Island, and across the country. George is capable of being very unpleasant when he doesnt get his way.. In another odd twist, however, Amy isnt asking for much. The world will miss this shining light. I thought, Well, O.K., his intentions are honorable., Eight months after the inaugural ball, in September 1989, George and Amy were married at St. James Episcopal Church on the Upper East Side, with 350 guests and eight bridesmaids. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. He didnt really fire me, Acreman, who is now 24, says in a telephone call. He treated them better than he ever treated his wife, says another employee. That night after she put her children to bed, she says, she just [kept] crying uncontrollably and getting more and more upset. I knew that I desperately needed help, I needed professional intervention. And this would take place on the Saturday night before [church]. She died peacefully in her sleep at age 89. She died peacefully in her sleep at age 89. But soon they learned the truth, as the scuttlebutt spread through the office: the ONeills werent spies, they were Rockefellers! I did spend a lot on fabric, admits Amy, who began to sew her own clothes. Between her two diplomatic assignments, Reagan had summoned her to the White House for two years to fill Elizabeth Doles shoes as public liaison when Dole became secretary of transportation. I still have a few pounds to lose, she says. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. There was no Wafflerama when Abby was around, says an employee. Rockefeller was born into a large New York state family who moved several times before finally settling in Cleveland, Ohio. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190163937/abigail-rockefeller-o'neill. She felt thoroughly exhausted. I just was overwhelmed with the number of burdens that were facing me. Terri Nelson, who was married to a local funeral director and had taught Amy how to sew, recommended Jennifer Acreman, whom she knew from the First Assembly of God church. Owing partly to the medical condition known as toxemia, she gained 78 pounds with Catharine. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Youd better tell Faith, his wife advised. So I helped her, really, to complete the role of wife. Amy was this tall, stunning ingenue, five feet eleven, blonde, and with this radiance, says Susan Graf, Whittleseys social secretary at the embassy. There was a problem getting your location. Amys girlfriends say that she stopped getting their phone messages, so they resorted to writing her letters, but they believe she didnt get those either.