Janet_Lee_Bouvier

Janet Lee Bouvier

Janet Lee Bouvier

American socialite (1907–1989)


Janet Norton Lee Auchincloss, previously Bouvier, (December 3, 1907 – July 22, 1989)[1] was an American socialite. She was the mother of the former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

Janet Norton Lee was born on December 3, 1907, in Manhattan, New York City. She was the middle daughter of James Thomas Aloysius Lee (1877–1968), a lawyer and real estate developer,[2][3] and Margaret A. Merritt (1880–1943). Although she made differing claims about her genealogy, including that she was “from the Maryland Lees,” both her parents were of Irish Catholic descent.[4][5] She had two sisters: Marion Merritt Lee (1904–1947), who married John J. Ryan Jr. and was subsequently the mother of Mary Cecil, wife of William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil,[6] and Margaret Winifred Lee (1910–1991), who married Franklin D'Olier.

Life

Janet graduated from Miss Spence's School and attended Sweet Briar and Barnard Colleges. She was a member of the Barnard College class of 1929 but records show that she did not graduate.[7] She was a three-time winner of the hunter championship at the National Horse Show.[8]

She served as a board member of the Newport Historical Society and the Redwood Library. She was also the honorary director of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association in Stratford, Virginia.[8]

Personal life

Janet was married three times. In 1928,[6] she married her first husband, John Vernou Bouvier III (1891–1957).[9] He was the son of Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr. (1866–1948), a successful attorney, and Maude Frances Sergeant (1870–1940).[10] He was also the brother of Edith Bouvier Beale (1895–1977), later known as the subject of the documentary film, Grey Gardens.[11] Together, they were the parents of two daughters:

Mr. Bouvier's womanizing and drinking led to a separation in 1936, a brief reconciliation for a few months in 1937, and then a divorce in 1940.[17]

In 1942, she married her second husband, Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Jr., an attorney and Standard Oil heir; becoming his third wife.[18] Together, they had two children:

Hugh Auchincloss died in 1976. In 1979, she married for a third time,[25] to her childhood friend Bingham Willing "Booch" Morris (1906–1996).[26] Jacqueline served as her witness.[27] Morris, a widower, was a retired investment banker who lived in Southampton, New York,[25] a graduate of St. George's School and Harvard, where he was a member of the Iroquois and Hasty Pudding Clubs, and was the son of Violet Lee (née Willing) Morris and John Boucher Morris of Baltimore.[28] His late wife, Mary (née Rawlins) Morris,[6][29] was a bridesmaid at Janet's first wedding.[30] They separated in 1981, but remained married until her death from complications arising from Alzheimer's disease in 1989.[8][31][32]


References

  1. "Janet Morris, Mother of Jacqueline Kennedy, dies". LA Times. 24 July 1989. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  2. "740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building". Enotalone.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  3. Goodwin, Hilda (April 15, 1961). "Caroline Kennedy Descendant Of Troy Family". The Troy Record. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  4. "From Kilmurry village to The White House". The Clare Champion. August 1, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  5. Columbia university alumni register, 1754-1931. New York: Columbia University. 1932. p. 510. hdl:2027/uc1.b4525470.
  6. "Janet Lee Auchincloss Morris, 81". The New York Times. July 24, 1989. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  7. Latham, Caroline; Sakol, Jeannie (1989). The Kennedy Encyclopedia: An A-to-Z Illustrated Guide To America's Royal family. NAL Books. p. 22.
  8. Times, Special To the New York (16 March 1975). "Aristotle Onassis Is Dead Of Pneumonia in France". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  9. "Roman Catholics: The Law's Delay". Time. February 28, 1964. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  10. "Lee Bouvier Radziwill Weds Herbert Ross, Film Director". The New York Times. September 24, 1988. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
  11. Adler, Bill (2009). The Eloquent Jacqueline Onassis: A Portrait in Her Own Words. HarperCollins. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-061-87363-8.
  12. "MRS. J. L. BOUVIER IS WED IN VIRGINIA; Becomes the Bride of Lieut. Hugh D. Auchincloss. U.S.N., at His Country Home". The New York Times. June 23, 1942. p. 24.
  13. "Jackie's Half-Sister Dies". The Vindicator. March 20, 1985. p. 50.
  14. "J. Randy on Jamie Auchincloss – Jackie's half-brother!". Jrandytaraborrelli.com. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  15. "Notes on People". The New York Times. 21 August 1979. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  16. Pottker, Jan (2013). Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. St. Martin's Press. p. 8. ISBN 9781466852303. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  17. "Notes on People". The New York Times. 26 October 1979. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  18. "Rawlins--Morris". The New York Times. 26 May 1934. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  19. Bradford, Sarah (2001). America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Penguin. p. 1977. ISBN 9781101564011. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  20. "Services Held for Onassis' Mother". Daily News. July 28, 1989. p. 2.

Further reading


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