Post by Henry SoszynskiPost by r***@mindspring.comI have a New York Times obituary of 31 July 1948 for Mrs. William B.
Isham that says she died in Southampton, Long Island, at Vernon Hall,
"the estate of the Princess Irbain-Khan Kaplanoff, which she had leased
for the summer." Can anyone identify who this princess was?
She seems to have been born Vernon Marguerite Magoffin 1886-1939,
daughter of Samuel McAfee Magoffin and Elizabeth Moran Rogers, widow
of Chester Peter Siems 1884-1918, married 1911.
She died April 12, 1956 in New York City, age 69, having remarried in
1948 to E. Dudley Haskell.
Post by Henry SoszynskiNo idea who Prince Irbain Khan Kaplanoff was, though it would be
interesting to know.
This may help, from the NYT , 12 Jan 1933:
Announcement was made yesterday of the marriage on Tuesday afternoon of
Mrs. Vernon Magoffin Siems of 1,067 Fifth Avenue to Prince Irbian-Khan
Kaplanoff of this city and the Caucasus, Russia. The ceremony took place
in a private suite of the Pickwick Arms, Greenwich, Conn., after the wedding
party had motored from New York. Justice of the Peace Joseph J. O'Brien
performed the ceremony in the presence of Mrs. Crosby Tuttle Smith and
Miss Dorothy Siems, daughters of the bride; Princess Simon Sidamon-Eristoff
and Prince Georges Matchabelli, all of this city.
The couple applied for their marriage license on Dec. 10 last in Greenwich,
but the engagement and plans for the ceremony were not announced.
It is understood that the couple will make their home in this city, where
Prince Kaplanoff is in business with Prince Matchabelli.
It is the fourth marriage for Princess Kaplanoff. She was married to
Chester P. Siems, railroad contractor and builder, in 1911. He died in
1918 and on New Year's Day, 1920, his widow was married to Rushton P. Peabody.
They were divorced in Reno the following December. Three years later the
then Mrs. Peabody was married to George Drexel Steel. They were divorced
last May in Reno, and subsequently Mrs. Steel resumed the name of Mrs.
Chester P. Siems.
Princess Kaplanoff is of notable descent through the Rogers, Clay, Filmer
and Dudley families.
Prince Kaplanoff is a descendant of an erstwhile reigning family of the
North Caucasus, Russia. His ancestors appear in history as rulers as far
back as 734 A. D. Prince Kaplanoff was graduated from the Nicholasvskoye
Cavalry School in St. Petersburg in 1910 with the rank of Lieutenant, and
later served in the Nijegorodsky Dragoons, one of the oldest cavalry
regiments of Russia, of which the Emperor Nicholas II was honorary Colonel.
During the World War he served with his regiment on the German, Austrian and
Turkish fronts. He was twice wounded and decorated several times for bravery.
He commanded a cavalry regiment during the civil war in Russia. A sister of
Prince Kaplanoff is the wife of Prince Bekovitch-Tscerkassky, now of Paris,
who commanded the former Czar's Guard Cuirassier Regiment and later was the
last ruler of Kabarda Province in the Caucasus.
Also his obituary, which does not add much, frm the NYT Oct 12, 1947:
Prince Irbain-Khan Kaplanoff, a Czarist cavalry officer and a member of the
Russian nobility, died Friday night in St. Luke's Hospital after an illness
of several months. His age was 60. He resided at 860 Park Avenue and Vernon
Hall, Southampton, L. I.
A descendant of a ruling family of the North Caucasus, where he was born,
Prince Kaplanoff traced his ancestors as nobility from 823 A. D. He was
graduated from the Nicholasvskoye Cavalry School in St. Petersburg and
the Royal Military Academy and served in the Nijegorodsky Dragoons, one
of Russia's oldest cavalry regiments, of which Czar Nicholas II was an
honorary colonel.
During the first World War he served for four years on the German, Austrian,
and Turkish fronts, was twice wounded and received several decorations for
bravery. During the revolution in Russia he was a colonel in command of
a cavalry regiment fighting against the Reds.
Prince Kaplanoff came to this country in 1923 and ten years later married
Mrs. Vernon Magoffin Siems of Kentucky, descendant of families prominent
in the American colonial period.
Besides his widow, he leaves a sister, Princess Bekovitch-Tcherkassky of
Paris, whose husband was the last ruler of Kabarda Province in the Caucasus;
a stepson, Chester P. Siems of this city, and two stepdaughters, Mrs.
Crosby Tuttle Smith of Norwalk, Conn., and Mrs. James A. de Peyster of Palm Beach.
--
François R. Velde
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