Susan Ridgway Willing

In 1892, Willing, along with her brother Barton and sister Ava, was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.^[10] Willing and her siblings inherited the approximately $1,000,000 estate left by her father upon his death in 1906.^[11] Upon her unmarried brother's death in 1913, Susan and her sister Ava inherited the bulk of his estate.^[12][13][14]

On November 3, 1899, Willing was married to Francis Cooper Lawrance Jr. (1858–1904) at Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island.^[15][16] At the wedding, Susan was walked down the aisle by her father while the St. Cecilia Quartet sang the bridal chorus from Lohengrin; Winthrop Rutherfurd was the best man.^[16][17] Lawrance, a Yale graduate and lawyer, was the widower of Sarah Eggleston Lanier (a daughter of Charles D. Lanier) and the father of Charles Lanier Lawrance (1882–1950)^[18] and Kitty Lanier Lawrance (1893-1936).^[19] Francis' sister, Frances Margaret Lawrance, was married to George Venables-Vernon, 7th Baron Vernon.^[20] Following their marriage, they bought a large home in Newport. Just five years after their marriage, forty-six year old Francis died in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France on March 18, 1904.^[21] Before his death, they were the parents of:

• Frances Alice Willing Lawrance (1901–1989), who married Prince Andrzej "Andre" Poniatowski (1899–1977) of the House of Poniatowski in 1919.^[22][23] His father was Prince André Poniatowski (himself a son of Prince Stanisław August Poniatowski) and his mother was the former Elizabeth Sperry, a Stockton flour mill heiress.^[24]

After her husband's death, she moved to Paris with her daughter and her step-children were looked after by their paternal grandfather.^[22]

Susan, who lived at 23 rue Octave-Feuillet in Paris, died on May 2, 1933, in Paris, France. She was buried at the American Cathedral in Paris. In her will, she left her estate to her daughter and grandson.^[25] Her daughter received all of her jewelry, personal effects, a life estate in a trust of $250,000, a remainder interest in a $40,000 trust and the residuary estate.^[25]

Through her daughter Frances, she was the grandmother of Marie-André Poniatowski (1921–1945) and François Poniatowski (1922-2008) and Constance Poniatowski (1925-2007), Marie-André a soldier who died during the World War II.^[25][26]

Through her stepson Charles, she was the step-grandmother of Emily Lawrance (1911–2004),^[27] who married author Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Jr.,^[28] and Francis Cooper Lawrance (1916–2004).^[29] In 1915, her stepdaughter Kitty married W. Averell Harriman, who later became the Governor of New York. They divorced in 1928 after having two children together.^[30]