Constance von Stumm ( Hoyt; May 20, 1889 – July 30, 1923) was an American heiress who married into a German aristocratic family.

Early life

Constance was born on May 20, 1889, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She was the third of five children born to Henry Martyn Hoyt Jr. (1856–1910) and Anne Morton ( McMichael) Hoyt (1862–1949). Her elder siblings were the poet

Elinor Wylie Elinor Morton Wylie (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensu ...

and artist Henry Martyn Hoyt III (who also committed suicide); her younger siblings were Morton McMichael Hoyt, and novelist Nancy McMichael Hoyt. Her paternal grandfather was Henry Martyn Hoyt, the

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

from 1879 to 1883. Her maternal grandfather was Col. Morton McMichael Jr., "one of the foremost citizens of Philadelphia" who was president of the First National Bank of Philadelphia and a son of Mayor

Morton McMichael Morton McMichael (October 2, 1807 – January 6, 1879) was an American newspaper editor, publisher, civic leader and mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1866 to 1869. He worked as the editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' and ''Godey ...

Personal life

On March 30, 1910, Constance married German diplomat, Baron Ferdinand Carl von Stumm (1880–1954) in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in a ceremony attended by President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Nora von Stumm (1916–2000), who married Count Hyacinth Strachwitz. Baron von Stumm's father was Baron Ferdinand Eduard von Stumm. His sister, Maria von Stumm, married Prince Hermann von Hatzfeld (a son of the

German Ambassador to the United Kingdom The Embassy of Germany in London is the diplomatic mission of Germany in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located at Belgrave Square, in Belgravia. It occupies three of the original terraced houses in Belgrave Square and a late 20th-century ex ...

Paul von Hatzfeldt Melchior Hubert Paul Gustav Graf von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (8 October 1831 – 22 November 1901) was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1901. He was also envoy to Spain and the Ottoman Empire, foreign sec ...

, and his wife, Helene Moulton, an American). The Baroness von Stumm committed suicide on July 30, 1923, at age 34, in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

External links

Mrs. F. Von Stumm
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Elinor Wylie collection of papers, 1885-1950
at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stumm, Constance, Baroness von 1889 births 1923 deaths Stumm family People from Philadelphia American socialites German baronesses Suicides in Germany