Sara (Whiting) Rives (1861-1924)
Mrs "Sallie" Sara Swan (Whiting) Belmont, Rives
She was born at Newport, Rhode Island, into a family firmly installed within "The Four Hundred". She was "a popular beauty" both a favorite of The Mrs Astor and best friends with Carrie Astor, Edith Wharton and Lady Natica (Yznaga) Lister-Keyes for whom she named her elder daughter. Through her mother, she was a first cousin of Amelia Parsons who became Her Serene Highness Princess zu Lynar in Prussia. Sarah's first marriage in 1882 was over by 1883: On Honeymoon in Paris, her new husband (Oliver Belmont) unleashed an absinthe-fuelled tirade against his terrified new wife before walking out on her for a spree of gambling and whoring before ditching her altogether for a dancer with whom he hot-footed to Bordeaux...! Afterwards she found happiness with the aristocratic and reliable George L. Rives. They divided their time between 69 East 79th Street in Manhattan, Tuxedo and Swanhurst in Newport.
