Ellen Stager


Ellen Butler, Marchioness of Ormonde was an American heiress and British peeress who was the daughter of General Anson Stager. In 1887 she married Lord Arthur Butler, younger brother of James Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde, who became the 4th Marquess of Ormonde in 1919. Ellen held the title Marchioness of Ormonde from 1919 until her husband's death in 1943. She was the mother of George Butler, 5th Marquess of Ormonde and Arthur Butler, 6th Marquess of Ormonde.

Early life

Ellen was born in Chicago on 26 May 1865 to General Anson Stager and Rebecca Stager. At the time of her birth the Stager family included her older sisters Louise and Annie, aged 16 and 14, as well as Charles, aged 5, who died two years after Ellen's birth in 1867. Anson Stager was a self-made millionaire, who started his career as an apprentice on the Rochester Daily Advertiser. He later found work as a telegraph operator, and received a series of promotions throughout the 1840s and 50s which culminated in his appointment as the first general superintendent of the Western Union Company in 1856. During the American Civil War Stager was asked by Governor Dennison of Ohio to manage telegraphs in Ohio and along the Virginia Line, which led to a later appointment as head of the Military Telegraph Department in Washington. He accompanied General McClellan during the West Virginia Campaign, and was credited with establishing the first system of field telegraphs during the Civil War. Stager retained his civilian status during the war, and in 1868 he was made a brevet brigadier general of volunteers.
During the first year's of Ellen's life the Stager family lived in Cleveland, Ohio at No. 3813 Euclid Avenue, then known as Millionaire's Row. Her father spent approximately $60,000 on the construction of a large house which still stands today, known as the Stager-Beckwith House. The House was sold in 1869 and the family moved to Chicago, where General Stager served as president of Western Electric, and later President of the Chicago Telephone Company and Western Edison Company. Stager had several business interests with "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt I, who was widely regarded as the richest man in the world at the time. Contemporary sources describe Stager as the "Chief Representative of Vanderbilt Interests in the Mid-West". His time as President of Western Edison Light Co. overlapped with Thomas Edison's tenure as one of the company's directors.
In 1879, the Stagers were recorded as living at 672 Michigan Avenue, Chicago. In 1880 Stager constructed a new home for approximately $150,000 on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Eighteenth Street in Chicago; this was reputed to be the first private home in the city to be lit with electricity. The building was erected on the former site of the Calumet Club, of which Stager had previously been president. The house was later sold in 1881 to William B. Howard.
Ellen's mother, Rebecca Sprague Stager died on 22 October 1883. She left an estate valued at $15,000, which included $12,000 worth of real estate in Cleveland, Ohio. Anson Stager died on 26 March 1885. His funeral was held at his home at 1785 Michigan Avenue, Chicago on 28 March 1995; one of his pallbearers was Robert Todd Lincoln, the former US Secretary of War and son of President Abraham Lincoln.
Anson Stager's estate was valued at approximately $850,000, including $125,000 of real estate and $725,000 of personal estate, which was shared equally between Ellen and her two older sisters Annie Stager Hickox and Louise Stager Gorton.

Marriage and family

In 1885, accompanied by her sister Annie Stager Hickox, Ellen departed the United States to visit Great Britain and Europe. She was presented to Queen Victoria at Court, and at a ball given in her honour she met Lord Arthur Butler, younger brother and heir presumptive of the Marquess of Ormonde. In the winter of 1885-86 she visited Pisa in Italy and Nice in France, and later visited Rome. She later visited the Ormonde Family Seat Kilkenny Castle in Ireland in 1886, and it was speculated at the time that this is where she became engaged to Lord Arthur.
Lord Arthur Butler had been born the third son of John Butler, 2nd Marquess of Ormonde, and was 16 years older than Ellen. The death of his older brother Lord Hubert Butler in 1867 had elevated him to the position of heir presumptive to his older brother Lord Ormonde. Lord Ormonde had married Lady Elizabeth Grosvenor, but in the decade which elapsed between Lord Ormonde's marriage and Lord Arthur's engagement, Lord Ormonde had fathered two daughters, but no son to succeed to the family titles and honours. Consequently, by the time Ellen and Lord Arthur met the prospect of his eventual succession to the Marquessate of Ormonde, along with its 22,000 acres in Ireland and Kilkenny Castle had come to be regarded as increasingly likely.
Ellen and Lord Arthur were married on 8 March 1887 at St George's Church in Hanover Square, London. She was given away by her brother-in-law, Ralph Hickox, and Lord Arthur's younger brother Lord Theobald Butler officiated the ceremony. A Wedding Breakfast was hosted by Viscountess Maidstone at her home at 17 Queen St, Mayfair. Arthur and Ellen honeymooned at Latimer House, Buckinghamshire, which was the home of Charles Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham. Lord Chesham's wife was a sister of Ellen's new sister-in-law, Elizabeth, Marchioness of Ormonde.
Arthur and Ellen had four children:
Estimates of Ellen's dowry and fortune have varied between contemporary and modern sources; rumours of her $1,000,000 fortune at the time of her marriage in 1887 were likely inaccurate. However, by 1929 growths in investments, as well as the deaths of her two childless, widowed older sisters, resulted in her fortune likely being closer to $1,500,000 in value.
In the lead-up to Ellen's marriage to Lord Arthur Butler in 1887, newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic reported that Ellen bought a personal fortune of $1,000,000 to her marriage, and her name often appeared in newspaper articles listing various American heiresses who had married British and European aristocrats. A conservative estimate of the income derived from a fortune of this size would be £8,000 to £10,000. In contrast, estate papers indicate that Lord Arthur received a £500 annual allowance from his brother Lord Ormonde. Modern sources also record Ellen's fortune as ranging between $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
However the fortune which Ellen's father had left to his three daughters was closer in value to $850,000 to $900,000 in the mid-1880's. The Stager Fortune was left in equal shares to General Stager's three daughters; thus Ellen's actual fortune was likely closer in value to $300,000, or £60,000. The terms of her father's Will provided that she would receive 25% of her inheritance outright on her 21st Birthday, but the remainder would be held in a Trust from which Ellen would only enjoy the income. A further 25% would vest into her absolute ownership on her 30th birthday, with the remaining 50% vesting on her 40th birthday. Consequently, at the time of her marriage the value of the fortune which Ellen possess was closer in value to $75,000, and an annual income in the region of £2,500.
In 1895 The Inter Ocean newspaper reported that Anson Stager had left an estate with a net personality of $800,000 and realty of $200,000, the significant assets of which included $262,000 of stock in the Michigan Telephone Company, $60,000 of stock in the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company and $60,000 of stock in the Union Steel Company. Ellen's share of such an amount would be approximately $333,000.
In 1897 the Chicago Tribune reported that Ellen enjoyed a $20,000 annual income from a $500,000 share in her father's estate, which included shares in the Chicago and other telephone companies.

1915: Marriage settlement of George Butler and The Hon Sybil Fellowes

In 1915 Ellen provided £23,000 as part of the marriage settlement of her elder son Capt. George Butler and his fiancée The Hon Sybil Fellowes, which was to pay the couple an annuity of £1,100 during Ellen's lifetime, or £600 for life to Sybil if George predeceased her.
$115,000 would comprise almost half of the portion of Anson Stager's estate which Ellen inherited. Therefore, it is highly likely that the value of shares and other assets which formed part of Anson Stager's estate experienced significant growth between 1885 and 1915.
Ellen settled a further £15,000 on George and Sybil in 1929, which was supplemental to the original marriage settlement, and provided for an additional annual payment of £400 to Sybil, Countess of Ossory, in the event of George predeceasing her.

1922–1923: Estates of Annie Stager Hickox and Louise Stager Gorton

In addition to her own share of her father's estate, Ellen's fortune increased significantly in 1922 and 1923 following the deaths of her sisters Annie Stager Hickox and Louise Stager Gorton, who both died as childless widows.
In February 1922, Annie Stager Hickox died in Monte Carlo, Monaco, leaving an estate valued at $847,207. Much of her fortune was left to Ellen and her children. The New York Times reported that Hickox left:
  • Half of the residuary Estate to Ellen
  • $250,000 in a Trust Fund for Louise Stager Gorton, with the Principal to go to Ellen
  • $25,000 to Louise Stager Gorton
  • $5,000 to Ellen's husband Arthur
  • $5,000 to Ellen's elder daughter Lady Evelyn Drummond
  • $5,000 to Ellen's elder son, George Butler, Earl of Ossory
  • $5,000 to Ellen's younger son, Lord James Arthur Norman Butler
When adjusted for inflation, the 1922 value of Annie Stager Hickox's estate would have been approximately $490,000 in 1885, the year her father Anson Stager died; this represents a significant increase to the estimated value of her third share of his $850,000 estate.
Surviving records relating to the administration of her older sisters' estate indicate that approximately $750,000 of Hickox's estate was held in Trust, with clear provisions relating to the distribution of the Estate upon her death. These include the above-mentioned bequests to Ellen and her children, but with the entirely of the residuary estate to be bequeathed to Ellen. Despite this, orders made in the New York County Surrogate's Court on 25 June 1923 indicate that the $457,000 residuary estate was split equally between Ellen and Louise Stager Gorton. Gorton died merely weeks after this Order was made on 15 August 1923, and her estate was appraised at approximately $37,000, with the residuary estate being split equally between Ellen's four children, who received approximately $7,500 each after estate taxes were levied.