Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks
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Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Robinson Green Wilks (January 7, 1871 – February 5, 1951) was one of the wealthiest women in the United States.


Early life

Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Robinson Green was born in London, England on January 7, 1871. Although named Harriet after her mother, she was known as Sylvia throughout her lifetime. She was the daughter of Hetty Howland (née Robinson) Green and Edward Henry Green. Her only sibling was a brother, businessman
Edward Howland Robinson Green Edward Howland Robinson "Ned" Green (August 22, 1868 – June 8, 1936), also known as Colonel Green, was an American businessman, the only son of financier Hetty Green (the "Witch of Wall Street"). In the late 19th century, he became a polit ...
.


Personal life

On February 23, 1909, Sylvia, then 38 years old, was married to 63-year-old Matthew Astor Wilks (1844–1926) in
Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
. Wilks was a great-grandson of America's first
millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...
John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...
. Although Wilks was worth approximately $2,000,000 in his own right, her mother insisted that they have a
prenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...
waiving his right to inherit Sylvia's fortune.Slack, Charles, ''Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon''. New York: Ecco (2004) . When her brother died in 1935, she inherited his estate, rather than the estate going to his widow. Her husband died on July 9, 1926 at his home, 7 West 81st Street in New York City. He was buried at Immanuel Cemetery in
Bellows Falls, Vermont Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the ...
. Sylvia, who was then living at 998 Fifth Avenue, died at New York Hospital on February 5, 1951, and was buried alongside her husband at Immanuel Cemetery in Vermont. She left an estate valued at $94,965,229 (approximately $ today). The list of assets included 36 pages of bonds, eight pages of blue-chip stocks, and $31 million in a non-interest bearing checking account.


Estate

Her will was found stuffed in a tin cabinet with four cakes of soap. She bestowed just $5,000 on her closest genetic relative, a cousin, but the court awarded her $140,000 during probate. The remainder was divided between 63 charities and educational institutions. Wilks donated $3 million to the
FDNY The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
's Honor Emergency Fund. In 1958 the Fire Department commissioned a new $900,222 fireboat named in her honor.


See also

*
Howland will forgery trial The Howland will forgery trial (''Robinson v. Mandell'') was a U.S. court case in 1868 where businesswoman Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson, who would later become the richest woman in America, contested the validity of the will of her aunt, Sy ...


References


External links

* (as Sylvia Ann ''Green'' Wilks) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilks, Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green 1871 births 1951 deaths American philanthropists American women philanthropists Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni