She was born as Caroline Suydam Berryman on December 28, 1861, in
New Haven, Connecticut, to a very wealthy and socially prominent family. She was a daughter of Charles Henry Berryman (1833–1893)[2] and Harriett (
néeWhitney)[3] Berryman (1838–1912).[4] Among her siblings was Henry Whitney Berryman (husband of Edith "Esta" Green of
Goole,
England) and Georgiana Louise Berryman (wife of Swiss merchant
Henry Casimir de Rham).[5][6]
His paternal grandparents were Edwin Upshur Berryman and Maria (née
Coster) Berryman, who both died young.[7] Her maternal grandparents were Hannah (née Lawrence) Whitney and Henry Whitney[8] (a son of Harriet (née Suydam) Whitney and
Stephen Whitney, one of the wealthiest merchants in New York City).[9] Among her extended family were aunts Cornelia Lawrence Whitney (the wife of John Gerard
Heckscher), Maria Whitney (wife of Robert Cambridge
Livingston), and Caroline Suydam Whitney (wife of Cornelius
Fellowes).[9]
Personal life
On October 3, 1882, She married Lorillard Spencer Jr. (1860–1912), a son of Lorillard Spencer and Sarah (née
Griswold) Spencer.[10] His paternal grandparents were Eleanora Eliza (née Lorillard) Spencer (daughter of
Pierre Lorillard II) and William Augustus Spencer (son of U.S. Representative
Ambrose Spencer and brother of
John Canfield Spencer, the
U.S. Secretary of War and
Treasury).[11] Among his siblings was sister, Eleanor Spencer (wife of Don Virginius Cenci, 6th Prince of Vicovaro) and brother
William Augustus Spencer, who died aboard the
RMS Titanic.[12] Together, they were the parents of two daughters who died in infancy, and a son, who also predeceased her:[1]