Marjorie Merriweather Post

Majorie Merriwweather Post ca. 1923

Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) (or Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May) was a leading American socialite and the founder of General Foods, Inc. She was 27 when her father died, and she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company.

She was born in Springfield, Illinois, U.S., the daughter of C.W. Post and Ella Letitia Merriweather.

She married four times:In 1905 Post married investment banker Edward Bennett Close of Greenwich, Connecticut: They divorced in 1919. Their eldest daughter Adelaide married banker Augustus Riggs; their second daughter, Eleanor Post Close, later Eleanor Post Hutton, married director Preston Sturges. By his second marriage, Edward Close would become the paternal grandfather of actress Glenn Close.

Secondly, she married, in 1920, Edward Francis Hutton, financier. In 1923, Edward Hutton became the chairman of the board of the Postum Cereal Company, and they developed a larger variety of food products, including Birdseye Frozen Foods. The company became the General Foods Corporation. Post and Hutton divorced in 1935. Their only child, Nedenia, became an actress under the name Dina Merrill.

Mar-A-Largo, Marjorie Merriweather Post's estate on Palm Beach Island. Library of Congress photograph, HABS

Thirdly, she married, in 1935, Joseph E. Davies, a Washington lawyer: They divorced in 1955. The couple lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938, while he served as American ambassador to the Soviet Union. Their home on Long Island, New York, became C.W. Post College, now part of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

Her final marriage occurred in 1958 to Herbert A. May Jr.; May, the closeted homosexual heir to the May Department Stores fortune had previously been very briefly married to Mellon banking heiress Cordelia Scaife. They divorced in 1964. Following her divorce from May, she reclaimed her full maiden name of Marjorie Merriweather Post.

Marjorie Merriweather Post was also known for her lavish homes, the largest of which was Mar-A-Lago on the island of Palm Beach, Florida. Designed by Joseph Urban Mar-A-Lago was purchased from Post Family Trust by Donald Trump. Trump in turn had the 110,000 square foot (10,000 m²) house completely restored to its original state. Mrs. Post's other estate, Hillwood (Washington, D.C.) is operated as a museum. Along with her second husband E.F. Hutton, she was the owner of Sea Cloud (Hussar V), the largest privately owned sea-going yacht in the world. Post also owned Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks, which she considered a "rustic retreat", comprised of a fully staffed main lodge, and private guest cabins, each staffed with their own butlers.

Her donation of funds to construct field hospitals in France during World War I was recognized with the French government awarding her the Legion of Honor.

The Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue, in Columbia, Maryland is named for her.

External links

* Hillwood, Marjorie Merriweather Post Estate in Washington, D.C.
*West Palm West Historical Society
*The Sea Cloud
*Sea Cloud Statistics
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