Ward McAllister (1827-1895)

He was named for his uncle-by-marriage, Samuel Ward III. He and Peter Marié were described by a contemporary as, "'Brummellian'... (but) whereas Marié was content to take life as he found it, McAllister was always progressive, feverish and restless". Together with Lina Astor, they drew up The Four Hundred - the first American social register made up of 213 New York families and individuals whose moneyed lineage could be traced back at least three generations and therefore in their eyes constituted society's elite. Edith Wharton's fictional character Sillerton Jackson who appears in The Age of Innocence and Old New York was contrived through the characters of McAllister and Egerton L. Winthrop (although she later regretted parodying Winthrop). McAllister married his cousin and had three children (listed). Their daughter, Louise, is credited for the line, "Meet me at the Hyphen" (which became a popular song) in reference to the twin hotels known as the Waldorf-Astoria. In 1890, he authored Society As I Have Found It, the publication of which brought about his social downfall - those mentioned within resented the invasion of their privacy and McAllister's appetite for publicity. He died five years later in social disgrace, dining alone at the Union Club in New York.