Katherine Emmons Force
American real estate businesswoman and socialite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katherine Emmons Force Spencer (March 12, 1891 – September 8, 1956) was an American real estate investor and socialite.[1][2] She was a member of the zoning board for Newport, Rhode Island.[1]
Katherine Emmons Force | |
|---|---|
Photograph of Katherine, c. 1908. | |
| Born | March 12, 1891 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 8, 1956 (aged 65) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Madeleine Talmage Force (sister) John Jacob Astor VI (nephew) Tunis V. P. Talmage (grandfather) |
Early life
Katherine Emmons Force was born on March 12, 1891, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the elder daughter of William Hurlbut Force and Katherine Arvilla (née Talmage) Force.[1] Her younger sister Madeleine was the widow of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV of the Astor family, who died during the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.[2] Her maternal grandfather was New York State Assemblyman Tunis V. P. Talmage, and her great-grandfather Thomas G. Talmage was Mayor of Brooklyn.[3]
Personal life
On December 6, 1922, Force was married to Lorillard Suydam Spencer (1883–1939) at the home of her sister, then Mrs. William Karl Dick, at 7 East 84th Street.[4] Lorillard, who was divorced from his first wife, Mary Ridgeley Sands, was the son of Lorillard Spencer and Caroline Suydam (née Berryman) Spencer.[5] Together they had two sons and a daughter:
- Katherine Talmage Lorillard Spencer (1923–1992), who married Joseph Henry Doherty (1923–1992) in 1957.[6]
- Stephen Wolcott Spencer (1925–2010),[7] who wed Marjorie Potts, daughter of Owen Lewis Potts of Santiago, Chile, in 1957.[8]
- William Hurlbut Force Spencer (1929–2022), who married Louise Thacher Jones (1927–2013) in 1956.[9][10]
Later in her life, she became a real estate investor and was a member of the zoning board for Newport.
Her husband died in 1939.[11] She died of a heart attack at her cottage, Chasteullux, in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 8, 1956.[1]
