Louisa Barnewall Van Rensselaer (October 12, 1836 – July 3, 1920),[1] was a prominent member of New York Society during the
Gilded Age.[2]
Early life
Louisa was born on October 12, 1836, in New York City. She was the daughter of William Barnewall (1792–1874), an attorney, and Clementina (
née Rutgers) Barnewall (1800–1838), who married in 1818.[3] After her mother's death when Louisa was only 2 years old, her father remarried to Anne Coles (1808–1885). Among her siblings was Elizabeth Barnewall (1825–1867), who married Alfred Schermerhorn; Morris Barnewall (1834–1895), who married Eliza Antoinette Hall.[a][4]
Her maternal grandparents were Nicholas Gouverneur Rutgers, an attorney,[3][b] and Cornelia (née Livingston) Rutgers.[6][c]
Society life
In 1892, Louisa (who at that point was a widow following her husband's death in 1878) along with her two unmarried daughters Mabel and Alice, and her married daughter
Louisa and her husband
Edmund, were all included in
Ward McAllister's "
Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[8] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[9][10]
^Nicholas Gouverneur Rutgers (1771–1857) was the son of Gertrude Gouverneur and Anthony Rutgers, a brother of
Rutgers University namesake
Henry Rutgers. After his father's death, his mother married Dr.
William Burnet (1730–1791). Nicholas' grandparents were Nicholas Gouverneur and Maria Winkler.[5]
^Cornelia Livingston Rutgers (1776–1825) was the daughter of John Livingston (1750–1822) and Maria Ann Leroy (1759–1797). Her grandfather,
Robert Livingston was the 3rd and final Lord of
Livingston Manor.[7]